The Wind Rises (2013)
After a 50+ year career in the anime industry creating one of the best-respected filmographies not just in the anime world but in film overall, 2013 finally seemed like the end for Hayo Miyazaki as he publicly stated his intent to retire following the release of The Wind Rises. In a story deeply personal to Miyazaki, The Wind Rises follows the mostly true story of real-life airplane designer and engineer Jiro Horikoshi (Hideaki Anno) who dreams of making the best airplanes in the world. In the height of World War II however, Horikoshi can only fill his dream to create airplanes by working for the Imperial Army which pushes Horikoshi to question his own moral standards and come to terms with his art being used for mass destruction.
The immediate thing to stick out in regards to The Wind Rises isn't what is in the film but rather what isn't. Miyazaki had built a career bringing fantasy worlds to life mixing the bizarre and fun into memorable worlds and stories often containing legitimate emotions and messaging within. The Wind Rises stands out as an anomaly when compared to the rest of Miyazaki's career marking the director leaving with a story he wanted to tell his way. Despite being a biographical film chronicling the life of a real individual, it is impossible to separate the film's message and story from the context of it being representative of something deep and important inside Miyazaki making it worthy of being his final feature. At first glance, the film appears to possibly serve as an excuse for Miyazaki to showcase his love of planes similar to Walt Disney using Disneyland as an excuse to showcase his love of trains. Since being a child with his father, Katsuji Miyazaki, designing airplanes including the Miyazaki Airplane, Hayo Miyazaki had been nearly obsessed with flying and planes which could be seen multiple times in his filmography. In watching the film though, it quickly becomes apparent that there is much more to The Wind Rises than the fun of flying.
The narrative presented surrounding the life of Jiro Horikoshi as an artist constantly haunted by his art is thought-provoking and emotionally complex enough to easily stand out on its own, but in the context of this being the final farewell from Hayo Miyazaki speaks a deeper message that the director never explored so hauntingly in his previous filmography. The perspective of an artist confronting what the world does with their art and the impacts that can have on the art itself is rarely explored and talked about but Miyazaki is possibly the perfect person to attempt to convey these feelings considering his long time criticism for the anime industry which he largely influenced and inspired going back to his early work as the director of Future Boy Conan. Where for the majority of the film, these emotions and complex ideas do shine through adding an effective level of maturity and depth to the film again unique for anything Studio Ghibli had put out previously, sadly when it comes time for the film to bring it all together it does start to stumble. The film is building to an emotional catharsis which in reality is impossible to reach considering the complexity of the emotions involved. No one, including Miyazaki, has the answers to the questions present in this film creating an interesting conversation that has no real conclusion. This causes the ending of the film to feel a bit unsatisfying even if it is unfair to expect the movie to find a deeper and satisfying conclusion to the bigger conversation it starts. It sucks you in but never reaches its final destination.
The narrative presented surrounding the life of Jiro Horikoshi as an artist constantly haunted by his art is thought-provoking and emotionally complex enough to easily stand out on its own, but in the context of this being the final farewell from Hayo Miyazaki speaks a deeper message that the director never explored so hauntingly in his previous filmography. The perspective of an artist confronting what the world does with their art and the impacts that can have on the art itself is rarely explored and talked about but Miyazaki is possibly the perfect person to attempt to convey these feelings considering his long time criticism for the anime industry which he largely influenced and inspired going back to his early work as the director of Future Boy Conan. Where for the majority of the film, these emotions and complex ideas do shine through adding an effective level of maturity and depth to the film again unique for anything Studio Ghibli had put out previously, sadly when it comes time for the film to bring it all together it does start to stumble. The film is building to an emotional catharsis which in reality is impossible to reach considering the complexity of the emotions involved. No one, including Miyazaki, has the answers to the questions present in this film creating an interesting conversation that has no real conclusion. This causes the ending of the film to feel a bit unsatisfying even if it is unfair to expect the movie to find a deeper and satisfying conclusion to the bigger conversation it starts. It sucks you in but never reaches its final destination.
At times, The Wind Rises also just feels messy as it bounces around Horikoshi's life often jumping years at a time. The film is an agglomeration of part biography part philosophy that doesn't always feel the most coherent. Despite this, it is nearly impossible to not see The Wind Rises as a work of art with technical proficiency in nearly every aspect of the film. Being Studio Ghibli, it really should come as no surprise that the hand-drawn animation would be stunning really capturing the key artistic value in Horikoshi's work which is vital for the film to work in any regard. The physical settings, where less imaginative than previous Ghibli films, are all memorable and incredibly well-realized with so many small elements being included to bring this world to live such as Oxen living on the testing grounds for the airplanes in order to pull the airplanes to the runways. These tiny details would quickly be lost in a lesser production but showcase the eye to detail that Studio Ghibli and especially Hayo Miyazaki brings to his works. The film is scored by Studio Ghibli regular Joe Hisaishi and really shines as having a beautiful score that perfectly complements the film in its slower but more thought-provoking style.
The Wind Rises undoubtedly stands out as a film with an incredible amount of passion and inspiration behind it, bringing to life a story that stays with audiences and engages them on a deeply personal level. All the technical elements are there for it to be a masterpiece but sadly due to the lackluster ending and some of the pacing throughout, the film really can't be called a masterpiece. The Wind Rises reaches for the sky and does take off from the ground, but never quite reaches as high as it wants to. For fans of Hayo Miyazaki and more adult-oriented animation, The Wind Rises is an easy recommendation even if it doesn't have the eventual breakthrough it seems like it is building towards.
The Wind Rises undoubtedly stands out as a film with an incredible amount of passion and inspiration behind it, bringing to life a story that stays with audiences and engages them on a deeply personal level. All the technical elements are there for it to be a masterpiece but sadly due to the lackluster ending and some of the pacing throughout, the film really can't be called a masterpiece. The Wind Rises reaches for the sky and does take off from the ground, but never quite reaches as high as it wants to. For fans of Hayo Miyazaki and more adult-oriented animation, The Wind Rises is an easy recommendation even if it doesn't have the eventual breakthrough it seems like it is building towards.