The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)

[Ezee E]

IMDB

[Qrazy]

IMDB

The film's no good?

[Watashi]

You really can't trust Eric's animation opinions.

[Henry Gale]

Really liked this. Maybe my expectations were a bit lowered and misplaced due to a lot of people calling it weak and describing it as completely non-fantastical Miyazaki with little wonder to be found in it, but not only is there endless gorgeously dreamy imagery in it, it's also often tied directly to how the narrative transitions from decade to decade and reality to fantasy in really loose, lovely ways.

It's absolutely a Miyazaki film, but it's also something of a bio-pic, not a story with talking animals and magic seeping into it. And if this is truly his last, there's a lot of stuff going on in it thematically, tonally and ultimately unique in how he as a storyteller injects lots of ideas about art and one's life's work and its place in the world that makes it feel like a beautifully fitting bookend to his career.

I'm giving it a 5-star rating more to offset Ezee's mere 2 stars, since I wouldn't call it incredible or even one of Hayao's best, but it's still an often astonishingly well-crafted film more often than not, and even when it sags a bit or potentially plays some of its major aspects a bit softer than it maybe should, it's still beguiling.

No disappointment here. Well, aside from this potentially being the last new film we might ever see from an absolute master of the art form.

[Skitch]

Looks like classic Miyazaki. So sad he's retiring, but looks like another fantastic film.

[Stay Puft]

Maybe my expectations were a bit lowered and misplaced due to a lot of people calling it weak and describing it as completely non-fantastical Miyazaki with little wonder to be found in it, but not only is there endless gorgeously dreamy imagery in it, it's also often tied directly to how the narrative transitions from decade to decade and reality to fantasy in really loose, lovely ways.

Bingo.

This is a beautiful, whimsical, expressive film, full of wonder and warmth and sadness and humor - in short, yeah, it's Miyazaki. How it can be characterized otherwise is baffling to me. This is a movie where earthquakes cause landscapes to roll like tidal waves. And that sound design! I'm sorry I didn't see this in time for the Matchies because this would be getting all my nominations. The sound effects for the airplane motors are just dudes make sputtering noises with their mouths, and it's perfect. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Every little detail here brought me endless joy. I'd go so far as to say that this is actually one of Miyazaki's best, too - and I say that as someone who really hasn't cared for his work of late. As Henry says, the themes make the film double nicely as a bookend to Miyazaki's career. Unlike the last few, this one really does feel like a send-off, so I'd be perfectly happy if Miyazaki ends it here.

[Stay Puft]

Also, I'm actually going to recommend the English dub. It's well produced, exceptionally well casted... and there's one specific casting choice that just filled my heart with joy (it was a great surprise to me because I didn't know anything about the cast when I opted to see it; I just didn't have time to wait around for a screening with subtitles, because of my crazy shift work lately, and now I'm thinking I might have even enjoyed the film a little more thanks to this decision).

[Sxottlan]

Very good movie. Using people's voices to generate many of the sound effects was inspired. The sound of the firestorm was particularly ominous. The lushness of the animation is top tier as always. I loved the jarring cut to an up close painted background shot of the train after the earthquake hits. Going from fluid motion to a screeching halt.

And yeah, [

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Werner Herzog in a Hayao Miyazaki film? Cool.

]

[number8]

I saw it in Japanese. Will have to check the English dub out.

[eternity]

There is some dialogue in the English dub that is atrocious, I'm guessing because of translation issues. JGL's line deliveries are easily the weakest; the supporting cast is dubbed quite well.

[number8]

That's faithful, then, considering Hideaki Anno's acting in the Japanese dub is the worst.

[Thirdmango]

Went to see this with my girlfriend today and I cried more then I did in Wall-E. Not sure where yet but it's in my top 3 for this year.

[Watashi]

Best Miyazaki film. Best film ever. Best thing ever.

[Mal]

gah I loved it. Can't wait to get the blu ray. I cried.

[Rowland]

A bit flabby in the middle, and the English script featured what I hope were merely some awkward translations, but otherwise pretty fucking great.

[Grouchy]

The quality of the film is undisputed. I'm going to talk about something else.

Is that really the stuff that's said on a traditional Japanese wedding or did I just find some wacky subtitles?

[baby doll]

Personally, I thought this was pretty weak, especially by Miyazaki's usual standards. There's nothing very dramatic about the protagonist's quest to build planes since no one in the film strongly opposes the modernization of Japan. Indeed, there isn't even any internal conflict, as he's resigned to the idea that the planes he designs will be used to kill people, and the romantic subplot struck me as flat and uninspired--a blandly retrograde notion of what a marriage should be rather than believable relationship (as opposed to the bickering parents in Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea).

[transmogrifier]

Beautiful and bittersweet. At once a celebration and condemnation of creative obsession as Jiro blankly watches his designs be used for death and destruction, and keeps genuine love at a distance. The central romance is one of the saddest I can remember.

[Spinal]

Personally, I thought this was pretty weak, especially by Miyazaki's usual standards. There's nothing very dramatic about the protagonist's quest to build planes since no one in the film strongly opposes the modernization of Japan. Indeed, there isn't even any internal conflict, as he's resigned to the idea that the planes he designs will be used to kill people, and the romantic subplot struck me as flat and uninspired--a blandly retrograde notion of what a marriage should be rather than believable relationship (as opposed to the bickering parents in Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea).

I agree with this. Considering the subject matter, it was a film that felt curiously low on stakes. I had very little investment in the protagonist, any of his relationships or anything he was trying to accomplish. The short boss character was one of the few that popped for me. The romance was utterly sterile - which, you know, is kind of ironic given the circumstances. I did enjoy the scenes with the Italian as well as striking images here and there.