I must admit that I am a late-comer to the Miyazaki appreciation club. You have to look at the other writer on this blog for a more in depth and well thought out overview of his work, as she has seen many more of his movies than I have. I suppose it is fitting that The Wind Rises is supposedly his last work, as it is the first one I've had an opportunity to see in a theater. And let me tell you, it was well worth it.
For those who have had the fortune of seeing any of the animated films directed by him (such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro), The Wind Rises has much of the imagination and beauty that have become the foundation of his style. Granted, this film is about a real (albeit fictionalized) person, and as such is rooted in "reality". However, there are plenty of dream sequences with fanciful flying creations and plenty of crazy things that only make sense in dream logic. And even when it is rooted in reality, the colors and animation are simply gorgeous.
Far too often animation is considered a childish genre, something trivial and meant only for children*, instead of the medium of cinema it actually is. There is no doubt The Wind Rises puts that myth to rest, and not just because of its PG-13 rating earned for the copious amounts of tobacco use. The dialogue often revolves around the creation of airplanes and terminology usually reserved for the workshops of aeronautical engineers. Granted, it's all fascinating, but unless your young kid is an engineer to be, they might get a bit restless, and the antics of Martin Short's boss character, while at times funny, are probably not enough to sustain some kids.
Of course, if you are watching the subtitled version, Martin Short's character is instead voiced by Masahiko Nishimura. The theater I saw it at (and most American theaters currently showing the film) features the dubbed version, with a mostly celebrity cast doing the roles. It's hard to make a genuinely great dubbed film, due to the requirements of lip syncing and the differences in Japanese and English. However, it mostly worked for this film. Sure, things could get a little wooden at times, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the main character Jiro Horikoshi was excellent, as was Stanley Tucci as Italian aviation pioneer Giovanni Caproni. I can't recall any chunky dialogue that took me out of the movie. What was there seemed pretty well written and conveyed what was being shown on the screen pretty well.
As for the story itself, it's about airplane designer Jiro Horikoshi, and the two loves of his life. The most literal love story is between Jiro and Naoko (Emily Blunt). After first meeting her during an earthquake, he runs into her again many years later while away on vacation. They become interested in each other, but there are complications which will add a bit of a damper to their relationship. Although touching, this is a pretty standard story that tends to feel at times like it is reading off a checklist.
The more interesting (and controversial) story is his love of airplanes. Even though his vision was too poor to actually fly, that didn't stop him from going to school and becoming an engineer. He eventually gets a job with a aircraft manufacturer, and becomes the head engineer on a project that allows him to fully develop some of the ideas that he has been thinking about in regards to the design of aircraft. With each iteration of his pet project, it becomes, sleeker, smoother, and an all around legendary aircraft.
Of course, a person who has looked up Jiro Horikoshi, followed the controversy about this film, or has a decent knowledge of WWII aircraft knows that the plane in question in the Mitsubishi Zero. The film doesn't exactly ignore the fact that the Zero was used during WWII, and does mention the fact that all of them were destroyed during the war. Of course, it doesn't really go into the consequences of the design, and the devastation it wrought upon American forces. Despite the fact that the war itself is at most a shadow, a dark specter in the distance of the dreamscapes in the film, it is far from pro-war. In some respects it simply is a film showing the fatalistic attitude of so many engineers and designers that know exactly what their beautiful machines are being built for, but they do it anyway.
Recommendation: Strong Recommendation. See it dubbed and subtitled when you get a chance
*As if children should only watch inconsequential drivel that does nothing to stretch the limits of their imagination.
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