Film: Hayao Miyazaki... Worlds seen and unseen

Tokuma Shoten Publishing, the company that produced NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 together with Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Ghibli was the name given to a hot desert wind blowing out of the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa by Italian pilots in World War II. Miyazaki, being an avid fan of vintage aircraft, knew this and was said to comment, “Let’s blow a hot wind into the world of Japanese animation!” So began one of the most unique and influential animation studios in the world, referred to in modern day pop culture as the Japanese Disney, although many would argue that Ghibli’s impressive catalogue far surpasses that of its American contemporary.

Miyazaki and Takahata first met whilst both working at another animation studio called Toei Animation, immediately forming an alliance. They were looking to achieve something more with their animated films. They wanted to create animation of the highest possible quality, something that probed to the depths of the human mind, and that illustrated the joys and sorrows of human life and emotions. If the existing studio structure would not allow them to make this kind of film, they realized they had no choice but to start their own studio. As they began work on NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, they turned the traditional business strategy of Japanese animation on its head, placing directors in charge over financial backers and business managers. None of them really foresaw just how successful Studio Ghibli would become, with the philosophy being “Make one film. If that succeeds, make another. If it flops, that ends it”. In keeping the risk at a minimum, no full-time employees were hired. Around 70 staff were used on a casual basis to complete one film and when it was completed, the team disbanded. NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, their first film, went on to sell nearly a million tickets in Japanese cinemas. LAPUTA CASTLE IN THE SKY, their next film, drew about the same and both have since received incredulous critical acclaim. However it was with the simultaneous release of Miyazaki’s next film, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, and Takahata’s GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, a true work of cinematic art and one of the most poignant stories on war ever told by any director in any medium, that took Studio Ghibli to the international spotlight. Although the box-office figures at the time were none too appealing, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO won the most film awards in Japan that year and gained the utmost respect from the critics. It has since gone on to become one of the highest grossing family films in the worldwide home entertainment market.

However it was with KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE that Studio Ghibli had its first real box-office success, with nearly three million people seeing it in Japanese cinemas, making it the number one Japanese hit film of that year. It was this success that gave rise to Miyazaki employing permanent staff and introducing a training program in the field of animation. Although a push for greater marketing and advertising was realised due to incredible amounts of increased expenditure from Miyazaki insisting that all his animators be paid full-time wages, an unheard of practice in Japan at the time, Studio Ghibli still enforced the policy of not allowing commercial decisions to influence the filmmaking process. The only solution to the high risks they faced on every film was to be in perpetual production mode. With Takahata releasing a number of films of his own and using nearly all the staff and resources available at Ghibli, Miyazaki found himself in the position of producing, directing, animating and assisting a great majority of his films on his own, only to have a team working for him in the later stages of production. It is to credit to him as a master of his craft that he is able to multi-task in such a way and literally roll up his sleeves to produce tens of thousand of hand-drawn frames himself. In fact in the year he made PORCO ROSSO, he did all this as well as draw up the blueprints and concept designs for the new Studios and place of work for the Ghibli staff, oversaw construction, chose construction materials and meticulously ensured that it was finished in tune with his vision. On top of a stunning new complex being built, PORCO ROSSO went on to become the number one box-office hit of the year, surpassing even the success of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and Spielberg’s HOOK that same year. His next film, PRINCESS MONONOKE (1999) out grossed TITANIC in Japan and his latest work SPIRITED AWAY out grossed PRINCESS MONONOKE when it was released in 2001. It still stands as the most successful film from any country in the history of Japanese cinema. He is currently working on HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE, set to be released in Japan later this year.

Miyazaki’s films are above all visually enchanting, using majestic backgrounds of watercolor and working within the distinctive Japanese Anime tradition of characters with big round eyes and mouths of all shapes and sizes. His character designs are some of the most imaginative ever put to film. His common themes of the environment, mankind’s ability to co-exist with nature despite our often blatant disregard for the planet we inhabit, the female heroine, worlds of fantasy, spirits, creatures, and magic seen and unseen with allegorical references to both Japanese and Western mythologies, and the ability to overcome any obstacle with courage and staying true to oneself, have struck a chord with audiences across the world.

NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984)
(Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Original Story & Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Distributor: Studio Ghibli / Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 116 Minutes

It has been a millennium since a global war known as the Seven Days Of Fire destroyed human civilisation. Now only small enclaves of humanity survive, hidden from the Fukai, a thick jungle covering the majority of the Earth who’s suffocating spores and poisonous plant life is toxic to species such as our own. Feeding on the pollutants of the former human civilization, the Fukai continues to expand, enveloping the outposts of mankind and consuming them. Giant mutated insects are now the dominant form of life and of these, seventy-metre long armoured bugs called the Ohmu reign supreme. One of these last remaining settlements is known as the Valley Of The Wind, where lives our heroine Princess Nausicaä, a pillar of courage, compassion, resourcefulness and nubile beauty in this time of rampant mutation and lawlessness. High above the deserts she rides her mechanised flyer, a Mehve, negotiating the harsh and unforgiving landscape below to further explore and study the environment in the hope for a better tomorrow.

The toxic jungle that surrounds her valley, guarded by giant insects and expelling clouds of venomous gas is far from a benign threat. Although strong ocean winds protect the valley and power the vast battery of windmills that perform work and pump water from underground wells, a battle for earthly domination threatens their daily existence. Nausicaä must embark on a perilous journey to negotiate with the Fukai and its insects, on a mission to stop mass destruction and to ensure the long-term survival of her and her people.

Miyazaki’s message is clear from the outset, he flips modern-day existence on its head and creates a future where man is no longer in control of his environment and in a prophetic use of role reversal, nature becomes the pollutant and humanity the hapless victim. In this world of fantasy he creates a unique vision unlike any other put to celluloid, settling somewhere between the beauty of the natural landscape, a primitive society aided by futuristic technology and an acid-trip into a land of poisonous spores, fearsome fungi, mutated insects of epic proportions, spaceships, winged gliders, windmills, tanks, Giant God Soldiers of untold power, and cute furry mammals like Nausicaä’s friend, Teto the fox-squirrel. A storyline rich with imagination and fantasy, animation vividly coloured and incredibly rendered considering the time it was made, a musical score that truly heightens the atmosphere and an underlying metaphor that speaks unbounded wisdom, NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND is as brilliant now as it was in 1984. Credited as the first film to be released by Studio Ghibli and evidently responsible for the founding of the company itself in 1985, this hidden gem of Japanese animation deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.

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LAPUTA CASTLE IN THE SKY (1986)
(Tenku no Shiro Laputa)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Original Story & Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Distributor: Studio Ghibli / Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 124 Minutes

A giant pirate gunship hovers above a luxury civilian aircraft as tiny, four-winged attack vessels descend upon the unsuspecting ship like buzzing mechanised dragonflies. Their mission is to capture an innocent young girl named Sheeta, a passenger aboard the aircraft whom was recently abducted by government officials for the same reason the pirates want hold of her: the blue levitation crystal around her neck. The pirates and government alike believe that she and her crystal hold the key to unlocking the path to Laputa, a mythical floating castle in the sky of untold and unparalleled hidden treasures.

Attempting to hide from the pirates she clings to the ship’s exterior, but loses her grip and drifts helplessly into the nighttime sky. Plummeting to the ground, the unconscious Sheeta is miraculously saved by her levitating crystal. Seeing the girl float down from the sky amidst a bright green glow, a young boy named Pazu from the nearby mining town catches her in his arms and decides to take her home with him. If only all inter-gender appropriation was this straightforward!

The madcap medley of pirates, lead by a wrinkly, man-faced old woman known only as Dola with a near-toothless mouth and bright pink hair in absurdly erect pigtails soon close in on the young couple and a street fight of comical proportions ensues. As a wild and frenetic chase sequence across trains and tracks takes place, the military again close their sights on Sheeta and before long they capture our outnumbered heroes. As Sheeta learns of her real identity as the true heir to the throne of Laputa and the diabolical plans Muska the conniving government agent has for her and the future of the lost kingdom, a race against time begins to reach the floating castle of Laputa before it falls into the wrong hands… where aviation technology, a fearsome robot, and even the simple-minded pirates are not always what they seem.

Not only is the world Miyazaki has created visually enchanting, the characters are so much more than the one-dimensional counterparts we would come to expect in such an animation. Utterly compelling, they pulse with humour, wit, and a deep emotional resonance that evades cliché and typecasting to truly captivate its audience, adults and children alike. Miyazaki’s repeatedly breathtaking visual concepts, vivid watercolour backgrounds, and continuously mesmerising storyline combines with Hisaishi’s masterful musical composition in what can be considered one of Studio Ghibli’s finest achievements, again giving careful moralistic consideration to the symbiotic disposition of man, machine and the delicacy of the natural environment. Ancient sorcery, giant mechanised flying craft, floating cities, lost civilisations, kooky pirates, a powerful yet compassionate robot with amusingly oversized arms, lasers, gunships, and above all else, a friendship to overcome any odds… LAPUTA CASTLE IN THE SKY soars as high as one’s imagination dares follow.

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MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988)
(Tonari no Totoro)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Original Story & Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Distributor: Studio Ghibli / Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 86 Minutes

Two young girls, Satsuki and Mei, have just moved into a new home in the country while their sick mother remains in hospital. As they begin to explore their new surroundings they encounter some of the strangest, most adorable, and truly bizarre creatures imaginable… soot sprites living in the attic that pack up and move house at the sound of laughter, and three unforgettable beings that live in the nearby forest, called Totoros. A white, slightly opaque little blob that turns invisible at will, a furry blue animal like a plump baby bear with bunny ears, and a giant fat grey creature with an enormous furry white belly, cat whiskers, big ears, big dopey eyes and a nose like a wombat. Most memorable is the striped yellow Cat Bus covered in fur, seats and all, with an ear to ear grin, bushy tail and neon yellow headlights shining from its eyes like some demented battery-operated toy. The film’s premise is based on circumstance and exploration, not on conflict and threat. The film requires no villains, no scary monsters, no fear of the dark, no adults with ill intent, no fights and no bad words between friends to twist the narrative or manipulate the viewer. If you meet a strange, towering creature in the forest you can curl up on his belly and have yourself a siesta.

Widely regarded not only as the greatest of works from Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki, but as one of the greatest animations ever made, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO finds its place on renowned American film critic Roger Ebert’s list of 100 Greatest Movies. I have no hesitations whatsoever in calling this a hands-down masterpiece. Although essentially a children’s film, it should not be missed by anyone of any age, as is often the case with Miyazaki you will find that adults are rewarded just as much and often more than the children the film is intended for. Grinning is inescapable, laughing your ass right off the seat is probable, and forgetting yourself in worlds seen and unseen is inevitable.

Unlike his Western contemporaries, Miyazaki did not until recently incorporate computer animation into his work, in fact every film in this showcase was drawn the classic way, a frame at a time with Miyazaki himself rolling his sleeves up and contributing tens of thousands of frames. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is no exception and the level of detail in the animation on display here is mind-blowing considering the film is now sixteen years old. Miyazaki’s lavish watercolour backgrounds are as rich and atmospheric as ever and his character designs in this film so wildly imaginative that they would not be surpassed by anyone until his most recent film, SPIRITED AWAY. This is one film in particular that puts anything Disney has ever produced to shame, bar the works of Pixar Animation whose head of company, John Lasseter, publicly professes his admiration and utmost respect for Miyazaki. Interestingly enough if you compare the works of Walt Disney, Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar, it is Miyazaki’s book that Lasseter took a page from and not parent-company Disney’s. It is the strong focus on original and imaginative concepts, stories and character designs, coupled with clever narrative drives that sets such works well and truly apart from the formulaic pit of cliché the sheer majority of Western animation can be dumped in. One of Miyazaki’s strengths lie in that he gives children the credit they deserve, forgoing fake sugarcoated sweetness for flights of fantasy dipped in moralistic realism and true-to-life ideologies. The fact that the children’s mother in MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO is gravely ill and possibly dying could be seen by some as an unsavoury subject matter for young children, but Miyazaki handles it with such craft and wit and compassion that one cannot help but be touched by the story he presents. He has a knack for truly understanding the mind of the child and the use of human comedy to express this, resulting in hilarious feel-good moments that far surpass the forced sentimentality used by Disney for example. Roger Ebert comments in words far more poignant than any I could conjure: “It is a little sad, a little scary, a little surprising and a little informative, just like life itself. It depends on a situation instead of a plot, and suggests that the wonder of life and the resources of imagination supply all the adventure you need.”

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KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989)
(Majo no Takkyubin)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Original Story: Eiko Kadono
Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Distributor: Studio Ghibli / Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 102 Minutes

A 13 year-old girl can have problems at the best of times. Try being a 13 year-old witch with a talking cat who won’t shut up, a broomstick that won’t behave itself, having to wear the same old black smock every day as apparently black is in for witches this season, actually make that every season, and last of all having to follow the age-old tradition for witches to leave home at the age of 13 to earn a living on their own and never come back. Tough love for pubescent Japanese witches it would seem. Although apparently it’s not as bad as it sounds. Not once is any of this looked upon as a negative factor. It is simply part of life and the young heroine accepts it with optimistic maturity well beyond her years. In fact the common theme of KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE is the ability to overcome all odds, no matter how great.

So after leaving home with her cat Jiji, Kiki eventually decides to call a faraway city by the seaside her new home. Unfortunately Kiki hasn’t really thought this through, and she finds that not only does she have zero marketable skills, but also has no place to live and is out of bling-bling. She decides to start a delivery service, using her broomstick and flying skills as a kind of witch cum courier. She finds a place to stay in the attic of the local baker, helping out around the shop in return for board and soon ignites the interest of a nerdy local boy named Tombo. Tragedy strikes Kiki and her delivery service when she briefly forgets how to fly, cue sad music and it all seems lost and hopeless… until she again rises from the cobwebs to save the day. One of few redeeming segments in the second half of the film is when Jiji falls in love with a local stray, and a humorous period of flirtation follows as he attempts to get some pussy of his own.

Many cite this as their favourite of Miyazaki’s films, often for the simplicity of the characters and the plot. Although the story is based around a teenage witch, Miyazaki suppresses his vivid imagination for a simple heart-warming tale to inspire in children that anything is possible. In fact the singular supernatural element to the film is Kiki flying on her broomstick or talking to her cat, there is no epic magic or fights to save the world here. And yet it is this exact reason that it is my least favourite of Miyazaki’s works. I can appreciate it solely as a piece for children, with its upbeat optimism, message to help those in need, the power of friendship, etc… but it lacks the deeper, quazi-metaphorical meanings for adult viewers and the sheer sense of adventure, imagination, clever humour and wicked flights of fantasy that is present in so many of his other films. One-dimensional is one way of putting it; a shallow and often predictable fairy tale is another. Miyazaki himself said in an interview with Midnight Eye, “Simply put, I think that a film which is made specifically for children and made with a lot of devotion, can also please adults”. Why doesn’t this apply? Was there a lack of devotion this time around? Given Miyazaki’s sheer dedication I find this impossible to believe, but perhaps a bit like Kiki, like all artists really, for a moment there he just forgot how to fly.

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PORCO ROSSO (1992)
(Kurenai no Buta)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Original Story & Screenplay: Hayao Miyazaki
Music: Joe Hisaishi
Distributor: Studio Ghibli / Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 93 Minutes

World War I is over and mankind is content in the thought of an everlasting peace. Pigs might fly goes the old saying. Well according to Hayao Miyazaki, they do. Keen to recapture the romanticism of flight lost during the war, aviators from around the world circle above the Adriatic Sea, many turning to air piracy for an easy dollar. Enters our hero, a fat man with a pig’s head known as Porco Rosso, once a famous Italian Air Force pilot now plagued by guilt of memories past. Gun for hire; mercenary law-enforcer of the skies and seas, Porco protects cruise ships from the notorious air pirates known as the Manma Aiuttos in return for some much needed bling-bling. His reputation and triumph is short-lived though, as a show pony kind of guy from America known only as Curtis challenges Porco’s actions by joining the pirates and defending them from the pig. He’s the latest fancy fly boy on the scene with a state of the art plane to match, and Porco Rosso is forced to defend his honour against the newcomer in an almost epic string of dogfights high above the clouds, bets and brawls on land and sea that take on a comical nature of the highest order, and along the way enlisting the services of Fio, an attractive and feisty young female engineer who rebuilds Porco’s shattered old plane into something fit for the history books. As the story unfolds, courage, love, friendship, honour and the notion of doing the right thing no matter the cost reigns supreme as Porco tries not to make a complete pig of himself in front of the ladies.

One of Miyazaki’s more humble works, PORCO ROSSO is a far cry from many of his other films, with a distinctly European feel both in the setting, characters and indeed the animation itself. He forgoes his flights of epic fantasy and deep-rooted allegories for a simple story about good old-fashioned dogfights, gambling, food, women and booze. However, unlike KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE, it is its simplicity that gives PORCO ROSSO its strength. Miyazaki decides not to criticise fellow man for what we’re doing wrong, but instead shows us how important and affirming it can be simply to be alive and human. Through this ideal a story full of wonder, humour, romanticism and light-hearted action springs to life, and it is in Miyazaki’s craft as a director that he can tackle such a diverse project and make it work. The film is an entirely positive experience, somewhat poetic, somewhat shallow, somewhat naïve, but altogether very entertaining. Lacking the soaring imagination of some of his other features, Miyazaki mans the cockpit, thrusts the high G-force accelerations, switches the controls to autopilot, and let’s the planes and lively animation do all the soaring you’ll need.

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The national dates and venues for the Miyazaki Showcase are as follows:

Sydney: Chauvel & Valhalla – from July 1st
Brisbane: Schonell Theatre – from July 29th
Melbourne: Cinema Nova – from August 12th
Adelaide: Palace Nova – from August 26th
Perth: FTI – from September 9th