This Friday’s release of the Academy Award Nominated film, The Wind Rises, or known in Japanese as 風立ちぬ Kaze Tachinui, marks the retirement of the renowned director and animator Hayao Miyazaki (potentially). With this stated as his last full-length feature film, I want to look back at some of his greatest works he directed, wrote or produced. His films, when dubbed in English, are the highest quality animation that never fails to impress and often feature A-list stars as the characters. Personally I recommend watching them in their original language with subtitles but the English dub versions are great as well.
To start off the list is his very first popular film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The movie is about the titular character’s struggle with Tolmekia, a neighbouring kingdom that is trying to eliminate a herd of mutant insects. It is up to Nausicaa to stop the army and protect the Valley of the Wind. The story is also available as a graphic novel.
Although not as prominent as some of his works, Hayao Miyazaki continued to release some amazing films over the years including Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke. All of these titles are available at the library as graphic novels or films.
His next big hit was 2002’s Academy Award Winning film Spirited Away. The film is both breath-taking and beautiful. It follows ten year old Chihiro who accidentally enters a magical world that changes her parents into pigs. In the end Chihiro has to find a way to save her parents before becoming trapped in the world herself. This is one of those films you definitely should see.
One of my favourite films is the 2005 Academy Award nominee Howl’s Moving Castle. This film is based on Diana Wynne Jones’ novel. Follow Sophie as she struggles to discover who she is while being transformed into an old woman by the Witch of the Waste and falling in love with the wizard Howl. Stunning animation, a great story and an even better main character keeps me watching this film over and over.
Finally his last directed film is Ponyo: On the Cliff By the Sea. This is the story of a goldfish named Ponyo who befriends a little boy, Sōsuke, and wants to become a human so she can be with him. The plot is similar to The Little Mermaid but with five-year old children. It has to be one of the cutest films I have ever seen. For this movie I would stick to the original Japanese language version.
Not only is Hayao Miyazaki a great director, he is also a fantastic writer. Films he has been credited as writer include: Whisper of the Heart, a story about Shizuku who leads an ordinary life and ends up falling in love with a boy named Seiji. Arrietty which is based on Mary Norton’s book The Borrowers, and finally the latest film From Up on Poppy Hill which I recently saw and thought was fantastic. From Up on Poppy Hill is set in 1963 and tells the story of Umi Matsuzaki, a high school girl. She meets Shun Kazama and together they revitalize their school’s clubhouse and work together to prevent it from being destroyed.
Hayao Miyazaki’s films have a variety of themes, from the fantastical to the mundane lives of ordinary people. Each story will draw you in and you’ll find something you can enjoy. Described as some of the greatest pieces of animation ever created, with fantastic stories, characters, settings and breathtaking visuals, these films are something you really shouldn’t miss.
Eric Stein
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