The Boy and the Heron

I never got into anime. I know there’s a whole debate as to whether Miyazaki’s films are anime or something else entirely, but I always grouped them together, and so they didn’t really interest me. Sure, I’ve watched (and even enjoyed) a couple series, but my friends were never able to transfer their love of the medium to me. As such, I’d never watched a Miyazaki film before. It’s also because I gave Spirited Away a chance in college, at a time when my taste was somewhat narrow, and when I viewed movies as entertainment rather than art. So I was bored, and turned it off after 15 minutes or so.

As I’ve deepened my love of film, and endeavored to watch more and more from film history, I’ve decided I need to come back around to give him a shot. He’s so beloved by such a varied collection of people the world over, to the extent that the internet exploded once it was announced he had a new movie releasing in Japan, despite the announcement only including the title and a simple (but excellent!) poster. Thus, it felt like a good time to start my journey, even though I won’t have a chance to continue it until next year (gotta catch up on new releases over the next few weeks).

A few years after WWII came to Tokyo, Mahito’s (Soma Santoki) mother is killed in a hospital fire. A year after that, he and his father Shoichi (Takuya Kimura) move to a countryside estate with his aunt Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), whom his father is to marry. As soon as they arrive, a grey heron (Masaki Suda) begins to bug Mahito, even seemingly croaking out references to his mother. Mahito follows the heron to a mysterious tower on the property, so later when he sees Natsuko wander off into the forest, he has an idea where to find her. Not that it will be easy…

This movie slowly unfolds before you, gradually building up elements on its way to telling you what the story is going to be. A lot of time is spent establishing who the characters are and what the setting is before we go on the adventure which makes up the bulk of the film. As such, although it is an event-driven movie, we’re invited to interpret everything as it relates to the characters and their perception of it. Even more so since despite starting (mostly) grounded, once we enter the tower, everything quickly slips into the surreal.

The whole thing is gorgeous, but they start on an even stronger foot with some beautiful fire animation, an incredible shot of Mahito running through a crowd where all is a blur but he still manages to stand out without feeling out of place, and some stunning camera effects, such as layered focus and a perfect dramatic zoom to follow him up the stairs. The character design is excellent throughout, be they normal humans or stylized creations or fantastical creatures. And the subtle details of every element of every frame aid in deepening your engagement with the piece. There is nary an ugly image in the whole bunch: grotesque, even unsettling, absolutely (that pelican…). But not ugly.

As I’ve described it thus far, it sounds like a fairly straightforward if trippy experience of a boy journeying to find his stepmother. But there are many, many layers here, and I’m sure even more which I didn’t pick up on. At an incredibly basic level, he’s trying to save his stepmother while also searching for his deceased mother. At some point, his quest turns into a search for his stepmother in a way that implies he’s coming to accept Natsuko as his mother, even as he’ll never forget his birth mother.

Only a little bit deeper is its commentary about the experience of living in Japan during WWII. The War is a constant backdrop, but could seem arbitrary due to its lack of impact on the story. But there’s so much of it, from evoking the firebombing of Tokyo to positioning these events in relation to the war to his father’s involvement via manufacturing aircraft canopies, I imagine even the least astute viewer must notice something’s up. There’s less direct connections, too, such as when the heron says “Loose lips sink ships”, the militarization of the parakeets (yes, parakeets), and Mahito’s fashioning himself a bow and arrow. The climax can be read as an analog for the Atomic Bomb, both visually and in its impact on the setting, as well as the slight shift in how time is defined in the denouement. Being surrounded by war and violence robs one of their childhood, driven home even harder by Mahito’s inability to fit in at school and immediate rush to violence when bullied (regardless of whether it was justified). To that end, reclaiming the grounding nature of his mother’s influence in a tumultuous and scary time becomes more important, and even more given that his father is so often away for long periods of time.

More abstract is the nature of creativity and creation. I must admit, I don’t have that read fully developed, but the character of Mahito’s granduncle aka master (Shōhei Hino) strongly indicates there’s something there. His disappearance into his books and his preoccupation with his blocks seems to point at the importance of creative balance, of knowing when to pass on your craft before someone can rip it away from you, and of the beauty of crafting worlds. Because he is the designer of the world which Mahito is experiencing, full of many fantastical and strange and wondrous sights. Maybe he’s meant to be the Miyazaki surrogate, as Miyazaki himself seems to be unable to succumb to retirement without a clear successor, and presumably anxious about what will happen to one of the most highly respected film studios in the world in Studio Ghibli.

The film is deep and complex and open to so many interpretation. Many people online have said this might not be the best introduction to Miyazaki. Maybe, but as a neophyte this still got me super excited for what lies ahead. If the rest of his films have even half the impressive visuals, unique storytelling conceits, and wonderment at the world and all its horrors, then I will devour them with a voracious appetite. Additionally, The Boy and the Heron is yet another entry on the growing list of reminders that animated does not equal “for kids”. Especially in the US, we need every reminder we can get. So I was even more delighted to see this, an animated, subtitled, adult-oriented film, top the (admittedly weak) box office this weekend.

It is a rewarding experience in so many ways. And even if you don’t like reading your movies, there’s an English-dubbed version with an absolutely crazy good cast. Please check it out if it’s playing near you!