The Wind Rises
Special Presentation
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
If this is indeed the final film from animation maestro Miyazaki, he’s not going out on his strongest work, but certainly his most ambitious and most adult oriented effort to date.
Save for a brief opening bit involving dreams and aircraft bombers with payloads gnashing their teeth like monsters, Miyazaki delivers a character drama set against the lead up to the Japanese involvement in World War II. It’s the story of Jiro, and his rise from an aviation loving young man to one of the brightest and most sought after engineering advisors for the Japanese. He travels the world, but always comes back to his one true love. It’s a relationship that will be tested by the demands placed on the young man.
As a character, Jiro (voiced by Evangelion director Hideaki Anno) ranks with the Miyazaki greats. As does the animation, which will go down as some of the most stunning and, at times, subtle he has ever produced. Still, there’s not a lot of wonder and magic that Miyazaki fans might be used to. It’s also most assuredly the biggest downer the master director has come up with. Fortunately, the story is so strong and the animation so vivid that the actual animation drifts away in the breeze, feeling like an excellent and wholly human live action drama.
Screens
Wednesday, September 11th, Visa Screening Room (Elgin), 6:00pm
Thursday, September 12th, Ryerson Theatre, 5:45pm
Sunday, September 15th, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1, 9:00am