The Wind Rises will be the final film of legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. It’s understandable that people will expect a lot out of the film. With that said, it may be good to go into the film knowing that The Wind Rises isn’t an epic send off or farewell. Instead its a well crafted understated film from the heart of Miyazaki that tells the story it wants to, and takes its time to do so. If you get on board with it, you will be all the better off for it.
The story is a fictionalized biopic of the life of Jiro Horikoshi (Hideaki Anno) who was the designer of the Zero plane that the Japanese used in World War 2. We start our journey with Jiro’s childhood, where he dreamed of being a pilot. He literally had dreams of meeting Italian aircraft designer Gianni Caproni (Mansai Nomura) who gives young Jiro advice about building planes and how they should be used versus how they will be used. From here on out, Jiro knows that this is what he must do. Jiro goes off to college and soon becomes recruited to be one of the elite engineers for the military. Jiro’s goal is to create a beautiful machine for the air, although he knows deep down that they will ultimately used as fighting machines that will conduct slaughter.
Jiro’s growth is propelled by his encounter with girl named Nahoko (Miori Takimoto) who he helps out after meet on a train during the devastating Great Kanto earthquake. As fate has it they meet again one decade later and fall in love. She suffers from tuberculosis and unfortunately doesn’t have as much time on this earth as she deserves.
The opening credits open with the quotation “The wind is rising, we must try to live!” which becomes frequently used throughout the film as its theme. This is something that Jiro adapts and lives by. The theme comes into play for Jiro who is forced to live in the moment everyday and appreciate the time he has with Nahoko. Their love affair although at times adorable felt a bit underdeveloped and lacking the effective punch that Miyazaki thought he had. It never quite grabbed me in the way that I felt it was supposed to.
The film’s greatest strength is Miyazaki’s touch. He breathes life and a magical feeling in every scene from the old school animation to the unique sound effects he opts for which make this world feel like its own little universe. It’s a joy to watch how Miyazaki paints his film and his characters and his method of storytelling. No one else does it like him, and no one ever will.
Although The Wind Rises didn’t blow me away by any means, it was a joy to watch knowing that this was the final bow from one of the finest masters in the game. It may not be the grand masterpiece that people were expecting in terms of epicness, but it’s a well told story that has plenty of wow moments that will make us look back at all that Miyazaki has accomplished, and make us realize that he’s actually given us another fine film that we will appreciate once we ourselves “try to live.”
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