風立ちぬ | The Wind Rises: Anime Movie Review!

Hello, everyone! ♥

A few days ago, I finally watched one of Hayao Miyazaki's most recent films, The Wind Rises! It was nothing like what I expected!

"Inspiration is what unlocks the future... Technology eventually catches up." - Giovanni Caprno, The Wind Rises

"In "The Wind Rises," 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." -- (C) Studio Ghibli

The movie started off a little slow and I was like, wow this movie goes for over two hours? I got a bit confused between a few of the characters since the main guy, Jiro, seemed to not age at all but the little girl he meets completely changed, haha! I feel a little silly that I didn't realize who was who now that I look at them again.

But I got into it so quickly, and it wasn't long before I realized that this has got to be one of Miyazaki's most realistic films, since it was based on historical themes, and it hardly contained any of his usual fantasy elements. 

Here I was thinking I was going to get a cute love story and the characters will successfully chase their dreams with ease, from what I saw in pictures on the internet, but I was a little wrong. 

"Le vent se lève! ... Il faut tenter de vivre!" ("The wind is rising! . . . We must try to live!") - Paul Valéry, Le Cimetière marin

This movie was harshly realistic, really sticking to the previous quote, as the characters pressed on despite difficult times. The message of this movie is "Sometimes the outcome to your dream is not always what you expect.". This movie really showed that sometimes it takes a lot of time and sacrifices have to be made to reach your dreams, and when you, make the most of what time you have.

It's because of this I give it a five out of five! I wish I watched this sooner, and I'd recommend it to anyone who has an interest in animated films! The plot deepens, the characters are realistic and the themes probably caused a bit of controversy. It's because Miyazaki isn't afraid to touch on several social, political and environmental issues in his films that make me love them so much!

I would have liked it to be a bit more thorough as I wasn't aware that some things happened towards the end, a few things were a bit unclear.

What do you think of Studio Ghibli films? What's your favourite? I have yet to see Porco Rosso, I'll have to watch that next!

Enjoy life!

Nina