Gendo'sPapa wrote:Worried about a movie being like 'Grave of the Fireflies'? Depressing feelings aside I wish more films were like 'Grave of the Fireflies'!
Anywho, in Miyazaki I trust. If anything the story of a young man wishing for nothing but to fly & then seeing his dreams & hopes turned into vehicles of destruction, murder & suicide sounds like a terribly poignant film.
*Perhaps casting Anno in the lead role was more spot on than first thought since NGE - the anime that was meant to encourage otaku to go outside & live - has been turned into one of the if not THE most discussed & otaku-merchandise/lifetstyle encouraging work of art ever. Either way, I'm there with all the cinema buffs of the world & am exceedingly curious to see what kind've story Miyazaki is going to tell here. I don't know much about the real guy but I assume whatever Miyazaki is doing it will be quite the emotional experience.
Most of the reviews have praised how beautiful the film was, but amongst many I find this particular review interesting.
Nakimori Akio wrote...
I finished the viewing of "Kaze Tachinu." Climactic! The earthquake, pride of Japanese, defeated in war, dream of flight, will of engineer and pure love...it's all beautiful. But its ideology is totally full of weaknesses. Considerable criticism is expected. In order to highlight the beauty and innocence of the protagonist, it portrays him as mere designer of the fighter and grants grace to wrongdoing of 'fighter=war' idea. The old maestro who has created many masterpieces despite it being possibly his last work, is reluctant to critique [on war] while at risk of the criticism [of his own]. That's how beautiful "Kaze Tachinu" is yet vulnerable. Just like the country itself. It feels like a task of ideological challenge has been given to future generations from Miyazaki Hayao.
A beautiful film is good thing, I expect nothing short of him. But when its ideology towards WWII is considered weak, it's not just a beautiful film anymore but a film that may be glorifying certain ideology. So I worry because again I expect nothing short of this guy since he has been one of the great if not the greatest. And with much of the recent political movement in Japan as of recent, this stuff may be sensitive to some people including myself. Creating a beautiful film about Horikoshi Jiro is one thing but to glorifying him is another. Because, as you stated, not many people know of his life. You can decide for yourself if he's a person who deserve to be glorified or someone who should be frowned upon based on historical facts. But the film features a fictional one which may and most likely will glorify and beautify the real Horikoshi who created the Kamikaze Fighters. And knowing that Miyazaki has portrayed this character as projection of himself is another thing that concerns me. Such maestro who has much influence over many people, I feel it's an important issue and as a fan I am concerned.
As for the 'Grave', it was beautiful and haunting but still disturbing for me by the idea that such story could implement distorted idea of the war to a lot of people especially Japanese kids when they are already being thought such idea in school.
