The Wind Rises

MOVIE #1,963 • SCORE 6/10 • 09.13.24
SERIES: HAYAO MIYAZAKI DIRECTOR FOCUS

The penultimate Miyazaki is maybe the least excited I've been on paper: a two-hour historical cartoon epic based on “a fictionalized account of the life of Japanese aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi, in particular his engineering career from his time at the University of Tokyo in 1923 to the first test flight of the Mitsubishi Ka-14” — that doesn’t scream excitement. But you learn to have faith in quality control at some point so it isn't hard to give yourself over to the master. And so of course it’s still full of magic and dreams. Even if it's his most grounded and realistic effort by a wide margin.

The aesthetic continuity will make you think otherwise, but Miyazaki has really dabbled in a variety of topics. He has running themes, naturally, like the spirit world and environmentalism and Italian aviation (the latter is the main takeaway here, right? where my Porco Rosso heads at??).

I’m very excited for his final (?) or at least most recent film, The Boy and the Heron.

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The Wind Rises (Japanese: 風立ちぬ, Hepburn: Kaze Tachinu, lit. 'The Wind Has Risen') is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, Toho and KDDI. It was released on July 15, 2013.