Boy and the Heron

 It has been a while since I have sat down and really watched and contemplated a Miyazaki movie. As someone who grew up watching all of his works, I never truly went in for a deep dive into why his movies are the way they are. Boy and the Heron showcases a coming of age following a boy named Mahito and his efforts to move on from a life he previously knew. He finds himself in a unknown world, looking for his recently deceased mother's sister--- in a desperate attempt to claw at a semblance of a life he used to live. The movie struck a chord within me when Great-uncle asks Mahito whether he wants to stay in the fantasy world or not. To me, I felt as if could be alluding to us, the audience. There could very well be someone who is like Mahito in every aspect, or could be someone trying to move on, someone who has depression, or someone who is scared of change. No matter who may be watching, the decision that Mahito makes is powerful. Miyazaki presents the audience with an confounding personal decision, where Mahito accepts his heartache, sorrow, and fears of returning to reality and takes it in stride. That, I feel, is a beautiful message to be delivered. Mahito's choices he makes throughout the movie serve as a desperate plea, a ragtag attempt at pulling what he has left of his life together. He bargains for some semblance of control, when he plunges the rock into his head, making a scar, I actually interpreted it as a effort to lie to himself as if to say that they do not effect him, and that only he has the ability to effect himself to this extent. Control, control is the main purpose of the movie. Control is what he fights for in the beginning, and it is also what he learns to let go of in the end. 

One thing that can be said is that the Boy and the Heron was not the average animated movie. Expectations of this movie from the public was that it would be a kids movie, and while it is true to the dialogue and the way the information is presented, thats where it stops. Boy and the Heron is more of a sugar coated brain exercise to exemplify grief and reconciliation. The film constantly stimulates your brain and leaves you grappling for a sense of what's going on. The movie consists of a ton of world building, to the point it becomes a little cluttered. I personally found myself confused for about 75% of the movie, constantly wondering, "wait, what does that mean?" or "wait, where did they come from?". Miyazaki brutal throws new character, setting, idea, ideal, into the mix without warning and the audience just has to accept it because if they blink they could lose their place in the story--- if that in of itself hadn't confused them yet. I have made half baked plans to watch the movie a second time, because I have an feeling that once just isn't enough to do the message justice. I read somewhere that the Grand-uncle was a stand in for Miyazaki, and it heavily changed the way I approached interpreting the movie. Seeing as the grand-uncle just wanted to retire his legacy.

Emotional well-being aside, I did feel as if the storyline and the way information was presented did feel a bit scattered. Although I do love to think and interpret when I watch movies, I find that there is a fine line for enticing thought and confusion. I did not walk into the theater expecting the message and story to fall on a silver platter, because that is not what makes a great movie--- though I did walk out wishing I understood the complexities of the film more. I felt more preoccupied with trying to understand the situation at hand rather than the real message and story being shared. Boy and the Heron, for as beautiful as it is both metaphorically and physically, plays a game of constant catch up. As many people say, I do have to mention that the ending is a bit rushed, and I feel as if the pacing done within some parts would have done the film a lot more better in the storytelling department. At some point, you just give up trying to understand, because sometimes there is really nothing else to understand. Often I feel like we expect there to be meaning in everything we do. Maybe Miyazaki intentionally wrote the movie to be confusing and scattered, maybe he made it with a meaning behind it. All I know, is that walking out the theater, as much as I felt confused I also felt satisfied with what I took away from it.

Boy and the Heron will forever hold a place in my heart not as my first Ghibli movie, but the first Ghibli movie I truly took away a message from. There is something magical about interpreting a movie in your own way. The animation was absolutely breathtaking, you could probably take a picture at any given moment and print a poster and it would look amazing. I think this is one of Miyazaki's best works, I am willing to put it up there with The Wind Rises, which I feel is also a strikingly beautiful movie. Finally, if I were to rate it, I would give it a 8.9/10, the only reason I tacked off a little bit is because of the rushed ending and the way I found it a little cluttered. Nonetheless, I found this film gorgeous, in all the best ways possible.