The Boy and the Heron

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Boy and the Heron!

Original image located here. Accessed 7th February 2025

So when was it that I discovered the works of Studio Ghibli? The year 2000. And much like any other movie connoisseur/anime nerd, it didn't take much to win me over: Stunning animation, boundless imagination, a distinct brand of humanism and a fearlessness when talking about big ideas. How could I help myself but jump on that particular bandwagon.
But I did so at an interesting time. For the years that would follow would prove fascinating for Ghibli figurehead/genius Hayao Miyazaki: Releasing Spirited Away. Achieving worldwide success with said movie. Scoring anime's first Oscar. Going back and forth on retirement. Growing outspoken to the point of becoming a curmudgeon. Losing his friend/colleague/sempai Isao Takahata.
In fact, I think that the success of Spirited Away may have been something of a turning point: Whereas Miyazaki's movies prior were unique in their own way, what has followed Spirited Away (Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo) seemed to be following the same template of throwing whatever weirdness his imagination can come up with. However one could make the argument that said weirdness can be relied upon too much and can be used as a smokescreen to cover up a weak script. 
Granted it is foolish of me to draw comparisons to previous Ghibli works but given the factors of the uniqueness of each work, the high quality of the studio's output and Miyazaki's advancing years, any instances of repeating one's self becomes hard not to notice. 

As for the movie itself it is extraordinary. The animation is of the typical Ghibli high quality and the afore-mentioned weirdness is at play. And the imagery is inventive and the imagination is, as ever, wondrous. 
But the real heart of this movie is this is a personal work for Miyazaki. All the pieces are in place to explain where he come from: The experiences of his youth, the building of the empire that is Ghibli, the musings of moving on and building something with one's own hands. Big themes to be sure but the movie does address them with flair.

Mind you, watching this movie however I can't help but draw comparisons to The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: The bombing sequence is animated in the same way and both films share a sense of finality running throughout. Makes me wonder just how hard Miyazaki took the passing of Takahata (seriously, watch him give the eulogy at Takahata's funeral: the poor guy is barely getting through it). Still, much like Kaguya, this is an effective way to say goodbye.

Also, props to the English dub for having Robert Pattinson playing the Heron as he seems to be having the time of his life.