Is the Wind still Rising?

One of the things that interested me about The Wind Rises was that it was a mix of fact and fiction, telling the story of Jiro Horikoshi as he went along a journey to creating the fighter plane used by Japan in the second world war, but also mixing in a story about finding love when Jiro meets Naoko. The story of the movie kept me entranced the whole time, and there wasn't a time where I was less interested or distracted from the film. Then there was Jiro's mentor from his dreams, Mr. Caproni. Caproni always served as a compass for Jiro and kept him on track, almost like a conscience. Jiro's character never struggled with any of the common virtues that one would see in a movie, but still provided a greatly deep and fulfilling protagonist who always tried to do the right thing. I think Miyazaki did a good job of telling a story of a man who did great things without painting him as a villain or hero in the war, just letting his life play out.
Besides the great plot, the film was visually beautiful, all of the animation was great to watch play across the screen and the colors were so rich and vibrant, it looked like I was watching a visual farmer's market. I mean, just look at these pictures! It was so magnificent to watch Jiro go from that little boy in the plane to the man standing next to Caproni, as an equal. The Wind Rises is definitely one of the best Miyazaki films I've seen, maybe even my favorite.

Chef

One of the things I liked most about Chef was that it was a simple yet entertaining film. It didn't have any over the top theatrics that have come out of Favreau's more recent "blockbuster" type films, but rather tells an entrancing story about a man rediscovering his passion and reconnect with his family. Carl Casper and Jon Favreau shared a lot of similar qualities like stepping back from large productions (for Jon, directing films and Carl working at high quality restaurants) that I believe he wrote in there on purpose, making the role almost autobiographical. Jon excelled at making a movie about getting back to basics and remembering where you started, and finding joy in those things again. Carl's relationship with his son Percy was also interesting to watch grow and shift as the movie went on, like with how Carl expected his son to be less knowledgeable and nonchalant and was constantly gruff, but Percy pushed back and had probably most of my favorite dialogue in the film. The story reminded me a lot of the recent film Birdman because it's a simple trip to be had, but the journey was the most entertaining to see as the characters grew and adapted, and because it almost seems autobiographical for the actors who appeared in both films.

 

Sansho the Bailiff: Coming Full Circle

Sansho the Bailiff was an interesting tale to watch as you watch the son of a well-loved Governor come full circle to do as his father did, and try to help the people. After the Governor is removed from office for keeping the citizens from his region from being forced into the army, his family is exiled and sent away. As they travel, they're captured and split up, sold into the slave trade. We watch as the son and daughter are sold to Sansho the Bailiff, a harsh slave owner who demands the most out of each worker. Their mother hopes and dreams for their return, but doesn't have her wish granted for many years. After the son escapes with the helpful distraction of the daughter, he is made Governor over the region and bans slavery, arresting Sansho, his former owner; helping the people just as his father had. He goes back to find his sister, but she's past away before he can save her. He resigns from power to resist its temptation, and begins searching once more for his mother. They're reunited, but the toll it took on each of them was excruciating.

Gojira: The Undying Legend

So besides the fact that when I search Gojira in google and the monster isn't what pops up, but a random French band, let's just take a moment to appreciate all that that 1954 film gave us. Gojira was the grand-daddy of monster movies, and Japan did it right! Not only did it give us all the monster movies we have, but Godzilla never really went down and always came back for another fight in 27 other Toho productions and 6 (soon to be 7) American productions! The movie clearly had all the archtypes and story line that we've seen tried again and again, but something about seeing it in it's original format is always envigorating. Plus, can you believe that the entire city of Tokyo was taken out because Godzilla was struck by the lights of the city? It's almost depressing to think that both sides were scared of each other, and responded with violence. But what good would a monster movie be without people dying under rubble? And just look at all of these Godzillas!

A (Blank) Letter to Momo

 With stunning animation and visuals alongside interestingly developing characters, A Letter to Momo is an amazing animated, coming-of-age story. I had no idea the movie came from the same people that did Ghost in the Shell, but it definitely set the bar high after hearing how acclaimed Ghost was. The film mixed in it's comedy well with it's more dramatic parts, and I found myself caring about the characters more than I anticipated (except Kawa!). I thought it interesting to see their take on the after life being a mix between more of a "western" view of heaven, and with guardians filling in for past loved ones who haven't made it to heaven yet. I liked how the film seemed to steer you to see how much Momo ended up taking after her father, even though we didn't get to meet him in person throughout the film. She was headstrong and worked hard, just as her father did, and wrote in the same rigid and straight-to-the-point wording in her letters.  If I had any problem with the film, it would be with Momo's mother. but even there I can't really complain. Sure, she may have been a little unresponsive to Momo's sensitive persona, but she was just trying to make the best of the situation. Her and Momo's dynamic ended up supporting the film even more!

After Life

I feel like this is what could be a potential heaven for some filmmakers, making shorts out of beautiful memories for eternity. After Life honestly had me feeling more invested in people's memories and there quest to find them, plus the process of making it into a film. The story did have appeal, however, and I enjoyed watching as a man discovers years after his death what it means to be at peace, and chooses to remember the people he met after life instead of during it. Takashi is struck by the sudden revival of his ex fiancé showing up in another man's memories, and struggles to help the old man find a good memory to keep due to the suddenly awkward situation. I thought it interesting that a place where the impossible would be possible due to it being beyond the laws of mortality wouldn't be able to foresee that situation happening, but maybe that was the plan all along to help Takashi find his way to the true after life. The little theme of "time running out" as Shiori tried to convince Takashi to stay with them in (what I guess is) purgatory was an interesting back and forth, though, and I would say that the ending left a pretty ironic feeling of "life goes on" for the viewer.

The Trip..to where?

 The Trip started off a little strange for me, especially with how the story seemed to progress, but quickly grew on me as the movie went on. It was interesting to see two actors playing themselves and just talking to each other like old friends (that is, until Steve decided to act snobby towards Rob). The break ups of the food being prepared alongside the conversations and jokes of the two actors really flowed well, although the formula felt very tried and true by the end. It was interesting watching Steven open up and talk about himself to Rob, but closing up anytime a woman or a memory reared it's head. He's a flawed person who's easily relatable in his more vulnerable moments, yet can jump quickly to unlikeable in a second. Due to both the leading roles, I thought the acting and chemistry was on par, and that I couldn't see the film succeeding where it needed to without these two at the helm. I'm still a little confused on the ending and deciding if he made the right choice, but I think that's the point is that it could go either way (as with most of life's choices.)

Yojimbo: The hero they needed, not one they deserved

I think what made Yojimbo into one of my favorite Kurosawa films is that it reminded me a lot of the antihero arch-type that we see a lot today; or even that it reflected as a possible inspiration for my favorite hero, Batman. He put on a show being this dark and brooding mercenary who's only in it for the money, and we watch as he tries to drive the two sides to kill each other off and save the town. He almost lost his life, even though he had no claim to the town. Plus the symbolism of the black and white clothing really played up the characters. The criminals dressed exuberantly and flaunted there wealth and power and tried to look exceptional, but the man draped in black, who was willing to steep as low as the criminals he killed, proved to be the most honorable among them. With how broad that topic of good and evil can be, does the theme and story remind anyone else of something similar?

Like Water For Chocolate

With more love than Paris, more ghosts than Ghostbusters, and more random twists than a tornado, Like Water For Chocolate is an interesting ride until the end. After watching and looking back at it, I'd have to say it was overall a satisfying movie. You watch as Tita goes through life's ups and downs and being forced to give up love until she's finally free of her mother's grasp, until she then goes through it again as she's confronted by both a love triangle with the doctor and Pedro, and her older sister slowly turning into her mother. She found random solaces that I felt were well placed, especially near the end (like the knitting and the cookbook). But what threw me the most was how confusing it would get with everyone showing up even after death.

There were scenes where I didn't know what time of Tita's life we were referencing due to the characters in it, because almost anyone who died would appear again to Tita as a ghost to her conscience as she traversed through life's problems. I enjoyed watching her character develop as the film went on, and liked that the ending didn't go as I had hoped with her and the doctor being together. She stayed true stuck true to following her heart and ending up with Pedro as she had wanted to the whole movie.

Hi-Def pigs!

Spirited Away is definitely one of my (and I'm sure everyone's) favorite Miyazaki films, and I love it for the little things that go unnoticed to American viewers on the first watch. Like, for instance, one of the symbols above Yubaba's door to the bath-house, "yu" (which stands for "hot"), was an allusion to feudal Japan's era of bath-houses. It would translate to "hot baths," and the women were called "yuna," which translates to "hot water woman." and Yubaba is what they'd refer to the owner as! But wait, there's more! During that time era, those bath-houses served as brothels. That's why the customers offer gold to the girl employees, and why no-face keeps offering Chihiro/Sen gold. I had to look all of this up after the first run-through of the film, but what drove me to look it up online was how the bath-house looked and ran. It all seemed eerily similar to something I had studied before. And then I found out that Miyazaki put all of this in intentionally to tackle the problems of the sex-trade industry growing in Japan at the time, and how young kids were being exposed to it at such an early age.

Random little tidbits like this are what make me love watching Miyazaki films even more. Has anybody else noticed any hidden themes/metaphors in his other films?

Oh, and who can forget the best part of Spirited Away: the most detailed characters, the pigs!