The Wind Rises is animator Hayao Miyazaki’s last film. Famous internationally for crafting animated classics like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, Miyazaki strikes another win with the Wind Rises, a wonderful display of dreaming and flight. Though The Wind Rises isn’t as instantly classic as some of Miyazaki’s greatest hits, it is a fine swan song because of the movie’s material, solid screenplay, and wonderful images. Enjoy your retirement sir.
The Wind Rises starts in 20’s Japan. Jiro (voiced in the English dubbing by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a dreamer who dreams of creating airplanes. On his way to college, he runs into Naoko (Emily Blunt) a painter with her head in the clouds like Jiro. When they are forced to leave the train under emergency circumstances, Jiro saves Naoko and her maid from death before returning to school (Jiro never tells Naoko who he is). Jiro eventually works for a plane manufacturer and designer, where he is quickly earns the respect of his boss Kurokawa (Martin Short) and his friend/co-worker Honjo (John Krasinski). After a couple failed tests, Jiro retreats for the summer and runs into Naoko again, both admitting their feelings for each other have never relented.
When a non-CGI animated film like The Wind Rises comes to the screen, there can be a tendency to lament the upcoming perceived drop in quality because of the precision of computer animation. However, Miyazaki does most of the drawings himself, and most of them are infused with a depth of quality and detail that equal and even surpass computer efforts because of the heart put into their creation. The scenes on the airplanes and trains are joys to see: wonderfully created rolling countryside with beautiful lively colors. There is an earthquake that genuinely creates tension and fear with a simple change in the color palette, and early morning/night images add to the dreamlike atmosphere of the story. The image that sits with me though is a scene outside of a garden entrance to a building. Two characters are talking, and in the very background mosquitos and moths are flying around a light; the scene was already fine, but touches like the bugs show just how careful and deliberate each sketch was constructed and brought to life. Animators like Miyazaki do not come around often enough, and his presence is greatest in The Wind Rises’s drawings.
Miyazaki is also not afraid of placing messages in his films. Usually, the message is environmentally driven since it is clear Miyazaki loves nature and its beauty. In The Wind Rises, the director takes aim at governmental intervention into dreams and fear mongering. These aims come into direct conflict with the other story: Jiro’s dreaming and courtship of Naoko. The morality of the Wind Rises complicates Jiro’s story in a more negative way; the jabs at governmental corruption create jarring tonal shifts that don’t really weave well together throughout the movie. Miyazaki does try his best: there is an element of dread established right from the get go, but in the end the warring tones leave a mess in their path. The duality of the story also limits the impact of the climax, forcing The Wind Rises into an unsatisfactory payoff despite the audience’s hopes.
Miyazaki’s biggest gift to his viewers is the characters he creates. There is usually someone to connect with for each audience member. Jiro is the dreamer that is fully aware of reality closing in on him; Joseph Gordon-Levitt nicely tones down his mannerisms to give Jiro dignity and enthusiasm in leaps and bounds. Naoko is more thinly drawn, but tough decisions give her more layers; Emily Blunt gives her spunk and sells the relationship with Jiro. Honjo (Krasinski) and Kurokawa (Short) are clearly the comic relief, but they also get some nice moments when pushed by the story. No character is black and white in a Miyazaki film, there is always a little something to each person.
The Wind Rises didn’t take my breath away like Princess Mononoke, and it lacks the ingenuity of Spirited Away, but it has enough quality material that make me lament Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement. At the movie’s heights, I was soaring above the clouds without a care in the world, and I wound up getting choked up and scared more than I expected to. Hayao Miyazaki’s head must be a wonderful thing to get to experience, and I am happy The Wind Rises let me experience it one last time.