Director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest addition to his wonderful resume of animated films, which he claims are for children but are loved by fans of all ages, deserves to be remembered for a lot of reasons. But, sadly, “The Wind Rises”, will likely best be remembered as Miyazaki’s 11th and final film. At 72, he says the writing, storyboarding, drawing and editing has simply become too much for him. Well, if that is truly the case, Miyazaki is going out on a high note.
“The Wind Rises” is based on the life of Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, who was the designer of the fighter planes that Japan used in World War II. We first meet Jiro as a young boy with big dreams – in fact dreams play a major role in “The Wind Rises”, as they do in many of Miyazaki’s works.
This sweeping narrative follows Horikoshi to university, then to life as a young, professional engineer and finally to his days as a major success. Along the way Miyazaki provides a tremendous history lesson on Japanese aviation and its effect on the country and the war. But “The Wind Rises” is also a personal story about this man, whose ambition to be great kept him from having time for a personal life with family and friends when he was young – and who finds love later in life, but, tragically, too late. This portion of the story is fictionalized, but weaves in nicely with the real life depiction of Horikoshi’s career.
This is the most personal of all of Miyazaki’s films, which is likely why he saved it for his grand finale. His father worked in the aviation field and his mother suffered the same fate as the key female character in the movie. And many see “The Wind Rises” as a comment by the great director on his own life – his ambition to become a successful and world famous filmmaker, and the price he paid for the decisions he made along the way.
“The Wind Rises” is serious in tone and subject matter. It’s rated PG-13 and, unlike many of Miyazaki’s films, including his most recent – “Ponyo” (2008; US English release in 2009), is clearly not for young children. There are no amazing fantasy creatures or talking animals. In fact, there are very few scenes involving young characters, another departure for the famed director.
What isn’t different here from his other works is the gorgeous animation. Miyazaki’s unique visual style will never be duplicated. There are sequences in “The Wind Rises” – large (bomber attacks, an earthquake) and small (the flight of a paper airplane) that are breathtaking. And the score is poignant, including a memorable song during the final credits.
At 2+ hours “The Wind Rises” is a bit drawn-out, as if Miyazaki simply didn’t want to say goodbye. But the length allows him to explore many themes and situations as they pertain to Horikoshi’s life, his own life, and our own lives. This is a sweet, sad, serious and sophisticated film that will undoubtably earn Miyazaki his third Oscar nomination and possibly his second win (he took top honors in 2003 with “Spirited Away”).
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Wind Rises” gets a B+.