The Wind Rises (Japan, 2013)

Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events, including the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic and Japan's plunge into war. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko, and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo.

Here we are with a brand new Studio Ghibli film, The Wind Rises, and what is said to be the last Hayao Miyazaki film. This is his goodbye to all his fans and to his past as one of the worlds greatest animators, and how fitting it that he decides to make this his most different film to date? When The Wind Rises was released in Japan, kids all over the country didn't like it, they thought it was boring. In a sense, I can understand that, because it's a far cry from earlier films by Miyazaki like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. Hayao Miyazaki himself said that this isn't a movie for kids, and it shows in the slower tempo and lack of fantasy elements. Here's a film about a real life plane engineer, and how he sought out his dream. As I said, it's probably the most different film by Miyazaki, the most mature and serious. The one thing that remains intact is the wonderful animation, it's so warm and has that sort of fairy tale feel to it, even though the story is set in a realistic world this time. 

There's no wonder Hayao Miyazaki put so much effort in this film because airplanes is one of his favorite things, both to draw and to experience up close, so there's little doubt that this film has meant much to him and I'm really glad he finally got to make film that centers around planes (his film Porco Rosso (1992) also featured a lot of planes though not as in depth). If you can accept the more grown up story, then this film is a wonderful treat that has lots beautiful sights to show. The problem for all those Japanese children is that they were expecting another cute film like Ponyo (2008), and this couldn't be further away from that, but it's a fantastic film in every way possible. 

Genre: Animation/Biography/Drama