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| No disappointment here for anybody that appreciates the symbolic and emotional impact of Miyazaki's trains. |
In the midst of the typical glut of gag driven, uninspired, and
contrived Hollywood Animated Movies, comes a fresh Miyazaki masterpiece, "The Wind
Rises." Finally released here in Singapore, I watched it last night and
could not have been more pleased. The artwork of the trains alone is
worth a glowing review, but this is topped off by the interesting story about Jiro,
the famous designer of the WW2 fighter plane, his ambitions, the state
of Japan from 20's to the late 30's, and lastly a poignant (yet
historically fabricated) love story. The contrast to other animated
movies was set perfectly and immediately by showing a handful of
trailers for upcoming animated movies, including Rio2, which promises
absolutely nothing outside overly timed gags, cliches, and tired parody. I
was expecting to see a matrix slow motion shot in there.
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| Jiro's love story with Nahoko serves the story well, giving the work obsessed airplane designer a distinct humanity. |
Where other animated features rely on quit hit gags (even if they are
funny), celebrity voices, and ridiculous broadway antics (that I think
nobody ever enjoys), The Wind Rises is held up by sweeping panoramas,
patient timing, smart storytelling, and sincere characters and acting.
Everything about this movie screams sincere! You get the feeling that
you are being treated as a very intelligent person, a very engaged
person, one who is ready to be told a great story with fantastic imagery
to match. Some of the artwork was literally breathtaking. There's
plenty of caricature and cliches, but they are used effectively as a
story telling tool, and not sloppy fuel for a throw away gag engine.
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| Jiro studies an imagined wreck of his dream. Many of the most effective scenes in "Wind Rises" were dream sequences. |
There are subtle moments in this film that I think are the greatest achievements of not only Miyazaki, but of the animation medium. When the main character, Jiro, looks into the distance as his prized ambitions are flying directly in front of him, the viewer understands the drama of the moment, the subtle suggestion of the war saturated future and destruction of Japan. This type of subtly springs up time and time again in this film creating an overwhelming feeling of an impending force that the current story is contributing to. Compare this to some of the blatant "on the nose" approaches to his earlier work, and you can see just how far this auteur has come in his legendary film career. I've always believe that subtly is the mark of a great storyteller. For the audience to understand what is happening clearly, particularly within an emotional context, with a minimal amount of screen information is a truly a masterful skill. My other favourite Miyazaki film "Kiki's Delivery Service" uses many of the same wonderful forms of subtly and character sincerity. Any film that can make a little girl that rejects her grammas pie into a demon more horrible than any big gnarly monster is a result of a master.
The Professor is happy to give this film an "A."
I saw the movie myself. I won't say I thought it was Miyazaki's best, but I thought it was very strong animation and sincerity as you put it. My main problem is that of biopics, and when it comes to representing a time and person that is real and did happen.
ReplyDeleteI think it's kind of a strawman argument to use american animated features to support what works about this film. They're not all one in the same, and the animation medium is much wider that supporting it as just gag-heavy material. It seems unfair and biased. Just look at Gravity; and it shows that animation is more than talking animals and such.
PS: It's still refreshing to hear your thoughts on the blog, Mr. Patrick Smith! It's been a while! Will you still be sharing more on movies, art, and animation culture?
I hope you'll be posting more I mean bills great but the blog color to one view with him being the only one posting. Plus I like how you talk about other things besides animation so where not overdose with it. Also you give more animation and art tips.
ReplyDeleteI will def be posting more! took a bit of a break from social media to concentrate on animation. Moving back to the states in May and am anxious to pick up the pace!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful animation -boring long dry as corn husks - man falls for little girl? that was a Big ugh and everything but the earthquake was a huge snooze fest a C in my book gimmie Totoro or Princess Monanoke any old day...... Miyazaki seems to have lost touch with his spiritual side...
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