Castle in the Sky.

Review #1480: Castle in the Sky.

Cast:
Mayumi Tanaka (Pazu), Keiko Yokozawa (Princess Sheeta), Kotoe Hatsui (Captain Dola), Minori Terada (Colonel Muska), Ichirō Nagai (General Mouro), Fujio Tokita (Uncle Pom), Takuzō Kamiyama (Charles [Shalulu]), Yoshito Yasuhara (Louie [Lui]), Sukekiyo Kamiyama (Henri [Anli]), Hiroshi Ito (Mr. Duffi), Ryūji Saikachi (Old Engineer), Tomomichi Nishimura (Motro), and Machiko Washio (Okami) Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (#1111 - Spirited Away and #1233 - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)

Review:
"I believe that children's souls are the inheritors of historical memory from previous generations. It's just that as they grow older and experience the everyday world that memory sinks lower and lower. I feel I need to make a film that reaches down to that level. If I could do that I would die happy."

Anyone who encounters enough animated films will likely approach the ones of Studio Ghibli at some point in time, with plenty of good reasons to do so. Studio Ghibli was a fresh company destined to deliver high quality tales involving traditional animation since its very first movie that was released in 1986. Four people founded the studio in 1985: Hayao Miyazaki (previously associated with Toei, A-Pro, Zuiyō Eizō, Nippon Animation, Tokyo Movie Shinsha, and Topcraft), Isao Takahata (who first collaborated with him on The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun in 1968), Toshio Suzuki (who helped in getting the Nausicaa anime made in the first place), and Yasuyoshi Tokuma. The former two were directors while the latter two were producers, and the company had been formed after the success of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, made by Miyazaki (his second ever directorial effort) under the production company of Topcraft (which had its dissolved assets turned into Ghibli). As is the case with numerous Miyazaki films (past and future), there is plenty to keep one's attention involving nature and technology, with elements inspired by mystic legends alongside Gulliver's Travels (in regards to the flying island of Laputa). One can't go wrong with our main duo in Tanaka and Yokozawa, each of which doing quite well in portraying innocence and care that go well with each other along with certain situations that demand capable characters for fascinating situations, even if that involves something as early as just meeting with each other. Hatsui makes a warm presence of amusement to go with the other spirited pirates, while Terada soothes with greed and arrogance for well effect.

It is a captivating film for all ages, capable of delivering a story worth getting involved in with careful execution and a fair cast to drive the movie with the right senses of charm and conviction. If we didn't care about this community and their inner strength that stands clear when compared to the other group depicted in the film, we wouldn't appreciate what it means to feel the ground on your feet. Sure, there are plenty of interesting things to look at when it comes to the vehicles or the grand castle in the sky, but the main core is a core of warmth. We aren't dragging our feet waiting for something to happen because we are instead being absorbed by what we see, feeling everything in the soil and in the air with enjoyment. With a 124 minute run-time, the movie sure builds itself with enough steam in its animation and foundation to make any scene feel diverting without any real slowing point, playing to the imaginations of its audience quite well. It surely isn't surprising to see the influence this has had over subsequent works in Japan and abroad, particularly in inspiring further steampunk depiction in anime and manga. On the whole, this ranks fairly high among animated films of its era in its strength of animation and adventure without any creative sacrifice to make an easy recommendation for one desiring an animated classic.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Review #1233: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Cast: 
Sumi Shimamoto (Nausicaä), Gorô Naya (Yupa), Yôji Matsuda (Asbel), Yoshiko Sakakibara (Kushana), Iemasa Kayumi (Kurotowa), Ichirō Nagai (Mito), Hisako Kyōda (Obaba), Minoru Yada (Niga), Mahito Tsujimura (Muzu), Kōhei Miyauchi (Gol), Jōji Yanami (Gikkuri), Mahito Tsujimura (King Jihl), Miina Tominaga (Lastelle), Makoto Terada (Mayor of Pejite), Akiko Tsuboi (Lastelle's Mother), Rihoko Yoshida (Teto / Girl C) Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (#1111 - Spirited Away)

Review: 
Hayao Miyazaki had a great interest in animation ever since viewing a film named Panda and the Magic Serpent (1958); although he soon graduated from university in 1963 with degrees in political science and economics, he found work at Toei Animation. Over the next few years, he worked on a variety of projects such as chief animator for The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun (1968), writing and illustrating numerous mangas before leaving Toei in 1971; he continued work with animation, contributing to anime series and shorts before moving to Tokyo Movie Shinsha, where he directed his first feature in The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). In the following five years, he kept busy, with one of his works being a manga named Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind that began in February of 1982. It proved to be a fair success, leading to him going an adaptation to film, writing the screenplay for a movie that had only sixteen chapters of manga to work with (with the manga running until 1994). Topcraft was the anime studio that helped in making the film; they went bankrupt the following year, with the buyers of the studio (Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata) becoming founders of a new animation studio - Studio Ghibli.

With all of that in mind, it should prove no surprise that this is a wonderful entertaining film, worthy of viewing by anyone looking for a sensibly well-crafted tale that stands tall as a pillar of animation. It is a film that shines on its animation and story, having plenty of depth and moments to view and be entranced by, challenging the viewer and not letting them wander for any sort of time through its 117 minute run-time. The film's main focus is nature itself and how it flows throughout life - whether it is through clean air or toxic ones, as is the case with the latter, owing to Miyazaki and being inspired by mercury poisoning of Minamata Bay in Japan that had occurred in the late 1950s. It travels on story-types of the past when dealing with its nature and focus on life, but it never attempts to boil itself in cliche good-and-evil traps - it keeps itself in check with a focus on environment and maintaining oneself without having to resort to basic fear and greed and fighting over what one does not know or understand. The cast does not break with holding up such lofty ambition in storytelling, particularly with Shimamoto, wonderfully earthly and captivating to be around throughout this adventure, with a climax that helps seal her fate as a memorable heroine for film. The others made their moments on screen count, such as Naya and Sakakibara, with no true weak-link present here. On the whole, the movie cultivates a vision for itself that never seems blurred while playing its hand with the right kind of patience, letting its story play out with a sense of balance and subtlety that makes one appreciate how animation can let creativity play out on such a grand scale. The following year, New World Pictures released an edited version of the film in America named Warriors of the Wind - an English dub lasting 95 minutes that Miyazaki was not pleased with (there of course exists a 2003 English dub that makes no cuts to the original film). In the past 35 years since this film's release, Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have thrived with showcasing numerous stories into film, with him directing nine features and the studio having released 21 features into theaters - and it isn't hard to see why that it is the case with this one, an adventure for the ages that captivates with its animation and an entertaining story that proves perfect for inquisitive viewers of all ages.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.