The Boy and the Heron is a 2023 Studio Ghibli anime film. Written and directed by legend Miyazaki Hayao as his last movie. It was released without any marketing campaign. But only a movie poster. It surpassed Howl’s Moving Castle for the best opening of any Studio Ghibli film. And was awarded an Oscar Academy Prize as Best Animated Feature in 2024 (the same year Godzilla Minus One was awarded as Best Visual Effects). It’s a film driven by surrealism and a symbolic view of the coming to age genre. A film for fans of Miyazaki better than Ghibli.
A Personal Narrative Driven by Memories
Miyazaki Hayao is usually presented as a creator who avoids telling his own life in a film. But he was always inspired by the relations in his life. And his own views about the development of Japan. But producer Suzuki Toshio spoke about the intention of Miyazaki to create a personal movie. An anime to reflect his old family memories as the professional relation inside Ghibli. In the movie Miyazaki himself is represented by the protagonist, Mahito. And his long-time collaborator Takahata Isao is Mahito’s granduncle. The relation between the two geniuses is fascinating in all ways. And hard to understand from outside. With Miyazaki even telling “we came to not even talk for months while working on a movie. That way we did not judge each other’s choices. Speaking again after the premiere, finally”.
Takahata Isao was less open about the relations inside Ghibli. But Miyazaki himself has trusted his opinion since the beginning. Even accepting the anime production of Nausicaa with the condition that Takahata acts as producer. And they founded Ghibli together with Suzuki Toshio. Takahata Isao passed away in 2018. This makes Miyazaki to refocus the film on the relation of Mahito with the Heron. Being the Heron, Suzuki Toshio. Still you can see the kind of relationship Mahito faces with his uncle.
The Boy and the Heron pictures Miyazaki’s mother as well. A strong figure in the director’s life. She was an influence in his career. And the opening scenes in the film draw parallels with the real life events.
What is The Boy and the Heron?
The Boy and the Heron is a surrealist work. Miyazaki Hayao started to experiment with surrealism as a narrative way to tell a story in The Wind Rises. When the protagonist contemplates dreams of planes and a new sky after the war. But he converted this into the narrative force behind The Boy and the Heron. It’s like Miyazaki’s very own Paprika, the masterpiece by Kon Satoshi. Making us fall into a new dream at every step. From one into another. Fans of Miyazaki would spot a lot of his own points of views and opinions made up in the form of dreams. Is not an autobiographical film by any means.
The Boy and the Heron starts depicting a raw and realistic vision of the war. And feels like a comeback to strong movies by Ghibli, like Princess Monoke. It feels like a perfect GoodBye. An anime to illustrate Miyazaki’s dreams, memories and ideals. Like his own Thus Spoke Zarathustra.