The new, and presumed to be final, Hayao Miyazaki film released December 8th. This film follows the story of a young boy settling into his new town, dealing with his mother’s death, and being introduced to a new and magical world.
The films’ animation was absolutely breathtaking in its detail and composition, as Miyazaki is known to do. However, this film may be considered even more aesthetically pleasing than his earlier films. An array of colors and detailed visuals that dramatically portrays the characters presented as very representative of their own personality. The creative vessels through which these characters are drawn may surprise and humor the viewers with the use of birds in a way that is less than typical. While these animals are often meant to portray peace, beauty, and are generally represented as fragile, they do not obey this stereotypical characterization in this film.
The plot of the film, too, leans slightly more complex than Miyazaki’s other films with an intricate relationship between the strange new world that the main character enters and that of his own. Some reveals and aspects of the plot revealed throughout the story seem to be confusing, almost, but ultimately come together seamlessly at the end of the film to truly portray man’s relationship with nature, himself, as well as heavily deals with the theme of losing a loved one and the mourning that comes with it. This film is dramatically and vibrantly emotional. As a viewer, I did feel that some of the questions I had continued to be unanswered as the film ended and sometimes thought it difficult to understand the convoluted plot.
The themes of the film ; the relationship between death and life, man’s relationship with nature, and the mourning of a loved one were executed and portrayed in a way that was quite beautiful and offered a surprising amount of empathy for the majority of characters. Though some may not identify with these specific themes, they come across as deeply personal to the viewer and are given with immense amounts of understanding.
The score of the film was delicately perfected to fit the ambience of the ongoing scene. It allows the audience to feel fully engulfed in the story, the emotions of the characters, and the strange new world that Miyazaki creates. The score is sorrowful and dramatic, encapsulating a major theme in Miyazaki’s work, life in an existentialist point of view.
Overall, “The Boy and the Heron” by Hayao Miyazaki was a complex and beautiful film that encapsulates the viewer. I would go as far as to call it one of the best films I have seen. It does not disappoint lovers of Miyazaki’s previous work, while remaining beautifully unique
