‘The Boy And The Heron’ Is A Wonderful Fantasy, But A Middling Miyazaki Film

When it comes to anime movies, the first thing that comes to mind are the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, and it’s no surprise why. Their works are often synonymous with “masterpieces,” as they explore dark themes, show epic struggles, and gripping romance, all of which are tied together in beautiful animation and art styles unique to them. With these two combined, they helped usher in anime films into the mainstream and are even considered the gold standard by some.

Miyazaki has been contemplating retirement for some time now, and though it may sound like the end of an era, it’s not. Since the release of The Boy and the Heron, Miyazaki has recanted his statements on throwing in the towel, saying that he can no longer be convinced to retire. And though the film had no promotional campaign, it was still a box-office success in Japan. So, after seven long years of production, is Miyazaki’s supposedly last film worth viewing, or is it something that you can pass up this time around?

Set in 1943, during the Pacific War, 12-year-old Mahito Maki’s mother, Hisako, is killed in a hospital fire in Tokyo, causing the young protagonist to be reclusive and anti-social. The trauma haunts him, even after his father, Shoichi, remarries his late wife’s younger sister, Natsuko. To escape the war-induced chaos of city life, Mahito, along with his father and Natsuko, move to the countryside – and immediately after, a curious heron starts to interact with the young hero.

With the bird’s arrival, the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur as Mahito ventures into his family estate and interacts with the heron. From this point on, typically in Miyazaki films, either the world is already set in a fantastical dimension, or the protagonist is transported to one – and in this case, it’s the latter, as Mahito chases after the idea that he could have saved his mother.

Right off the bat, the film explores heavy themes such as guilt, war, isolation, and loss, and how teenagers often hide their trauma. The first act is mainly action and strong body language, covering up for its lack of dialogue. Early on in the film, Mahito picks a fight at school where he doesn’t belong and lashes out. As he’s walking home, he picks up a stone and slams it against his head, causing a geyser of blood to spill out. It’s quite shocking, but it perfectly displays the grief that he is undergoing in that phase of his life, and gives more depth to his character. However, this drags out the film’s runtime quite a bit.

The film subtly develops into a standard coming-of-age story, but the keyword is ‘subtly’, as it doesn’t really riff on or take advantage of any of its established narratives, such as the war. This leads to several main flaws: it establishes several plot points, notable information, and locations, but doesn’t explain or explore them any further, causing the film to be hollow, especially in the second act. The film doesn’t explain much about how the fantastical world works, and it throws out taboos, legends, and rules willy-nilly, as if the audience should know them. With a person from the real world being the audience’s reference point, it would be nice if the film at least explained what all of these things really are, instead of just taking them for granted, as it would have been a great world-building exercise.

Despite this, the film successfully explores other fascinating ideas, such as family curses, responsibility, rebirth, and being alive in the present. This, along with its fantastic score and artwork, is what makes this film pop. The music gets a special mention as it’s more haunting than fantastical, which gives way to some chilling scenes. As the film progresses and delves deeper into the fantasy world, which becomes more appealing to Mahito compared to his bleak real world, the question of whether it’s better to leave the war-riddled reality or not arises.

It almost falls in line with classic stories such as “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Alice in Wonderland,” as the protagonists venture into a fantastical world and fight great battles that are out of their league in order to confront the truths and traumas of the real world. But though The Boy and the Heron has strong themes, it falls flat in some aspects, adding up to a middling Miyazaki film experience. It won’t be something that die-hard Ghibli fans will harp about in years to come, but this can be a memorable experience for people and kids who are just dipping their toes into Ghibli films, as it’s still a pretty solid work.

The Boy and the Heron will be in theatres nationwide on Thursday, 14th December