I am appalled that The Wind Rises did not take home the Oscar for Best Animated Picture. It makes Frozen look like a straight-to-DVD castoff. A beautiful farewell from Hayao Miyazaki, it is utterly magical – and in a way that eschews Disney’s heavy-handedness in favor of a much gentler, realer approach.
The film presents a fictionalized account of the life of “Jiro Horikoshi” (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who dreams of airplanes but cannot fly them, due to his nearsightedness. In 1927, he joins a Japanese engineering company and goes on to become one of the world’s most innovative airplane designers.
Miyazaki turns historical drama into the stuff of dreams, taking us into Jiro’s imagination and blurring the line between fantasy and reality. What’s more, he gives us a truly human story, gently guiding us through Jiro’s life but never disguising the horror of war or the pain of heartbreak. The matter of Jiro’s marriage to “Nahoko” (Emily Blunt) is handled with particular grace, showing us love from all perspectives – even those that are less than sunny.
As for the look and sound of the film, it’s everything we’ve come to expect from Miyazaki – and much, much more. The hand-drawn animation is truly stunning, and as for the sound effects, they’re all created by human voices, creating a haunting atmosphere that pulls us into the story and keeps us there long after the credits have rolled.
The fact that the Academy chose Frozen over this film is baffling – especially considering that in his astonishing career as a true auteur, Miyazaki has only won one Oscar. The voters should be ashamed of themselves for overlooking such an impeccable work of art.
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