The Boy and the Heron (2023)
Miyazaki's spiritual autobiography told through the lense of a son he could never allow to exist. "How Do You Live" as if addressed to Goro Miyazaki, is a film about choosing your own destiny. It's about being fully aware and capable of choosing a pre-determined path to greatness but rejecting it for one's own path - even if it is mundane. A powerful and compelling film.
It had the potential to be Miyazakis greatest film. However, the run time, strange focus on a bird kingdom, and ambition holds it back here. I almost feel that the entire bird kingdom sequence should have been cut to focus on the rest of the film and just extending the main narrative threads.
Spirited Away is more focused in that regard. But it doesn't mean half of what this film means. While the execution of Spirited Away is superior, here is Miyazakis entire soul.
The plot is about succession and legacy. It's Miyazaki's most autobiographical film.
Mahito finds himself at his family's country estate after he loses his mother in the firebombing of Tokyo. There, he discovers that his great uncle was a singular genius who disappeared into a palace he had built around a supernatural stone from the heavens.
This stone links different worlds and realms. These can be taken allegorically but clearly interact with Mahito's home world.
The movie deals with the cruelty of life and death particularly, and the pains of trying to improve the world but doing as much harm due to your ideals.
The Warawara are unborn human souls being hunted by seagulls that had no choice but to be in this world, being brought by the grand-uncle.
Every day the grand-uncle tries to balance this world to make it more perfect, but under his stewardship the parrots have become fascist murderers with their king prepared to lead a revolt.
He attempts to hand off the responsibility to Mahito as he himself is reaching his death. He wants to pass the torch and mold Mahito into a singular world-builder like he is, hoping that Mahito can improve on his life's work.
It's telling that the stones used to order the world are themselves carved from gravestones.
But Mahito has seen the suffering in this world and wants no part in that responsibility. Whether right or wrong, he doesn't want that mantle or power. He simply rejects it for a normal life.
This world of the grand-uncle's creation is so fragile that it is torn apart simply by toppling the stones and is rent asunder.
Miyazaki tried to mold his son into a legendary filmmaker like he was, and notoriously failed. Their relationship is incredibly tumultuous and Miyazaki pinned a lot of his affection on his son's ability to produce films at the same level of quality as his. That's a nearly impossible feat.
Miyazaki has no clear successor and is approaching his own death. This movie is him coming to terms with the fact that his worlds will die with him, and that that's an okay thing. No one is obliged to take on that responsibility and Miyazaki himself is conflicted as to whether his art has genuinely improved the world.
Related long-form writing: The Boy and the Heron: Miyazaki’s Spiritual Autobiography.
Originally published on Letterboxd. Browse all film reviews.