Lit. ‘The Wind Has Risen’ is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film. Written & directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Animated by Studio Ghibli. It was released in Japan on 20 July 2013. The film’s title comes from the poetic line: ’The wind rises ! We must try to live’.
It is a fictionalised biographical film of Jiro Horikoshi ( 1903 – 1982) designer of the Mitubishi A5M fighter aircraft & its successor, Mitsubishi A6M Zero, used by the Empire ofJapan during World War II. The film was adapted from Miyazaki ‘s manga of the same name.
In 1916, a young Jiro longs to become a pilot, but his nearsightedness prevents it. One night he dreams of his idol, the Italian aircraft designer Giovanni Battista Caproni, who tells him that he has never flown a plane in his life, & building planes is better than flying them.
In 1945, after Japan lost World war II, Jiro dreams of Caproni again, comforts him. The story has war & is certainly different from Miyazaki’s other stories. But he never says , war is good or is the answer to the problems in the world. It was inevitable then . But his film leaves us with a positive message again.
Miyazaki had rejected the proposal because he created manga as a hobby & considered it’s subjects not suitable for children, the traditional audience of Studio Ghibli’s features. A staff member suggested that ‘children should be allowed to be exposed to subjects they are not familiar with’. He was also inspired to make the film after reading a quote from Horikoshi: ‘All I wanted to do was to make something beautiful” Indeed, it is.
It was the highest grossing Japanese film in Japan in 2013. It caused some political controversy & criticism in Asia, it met with critical acclaim. Made on a budget of $ 30 million it garnered $ 136.5 million.
Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 88 % with an average score of 8/ 10. ’It is a fittingly bittersweet swan song for director Hayao Miyazaki’.
Peter Bradshaw called the film ‘visually exquisite & emotionally charged’. Matthew Penney wrote, ‘it is Miyazaki’ s most ambitious & thought provoking visions as well as one of his most beautifully realized visual projects’.
It ceases to be a biopic & becomes a beautiful vision of Miyazaki in front of our eyes. Inspiring.
Asian Entertainment 