The Boy and the Heron – Review of Hayao Miyazaki's new film

The Golden Globes is an American award given annually to the best films and TV programs of the season. The new year opened with victory of this prestigious award by the director Hayao Miyazakiwhose most recent work, entitled The boy and the herontriumphed in the “Best Animated Film“. Among the candidates there were also Suzume, Wish, Elemental, Super Mario Bros. – The Movie And Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Let's immediately see the plot of Miyazaki's new masterpiece: Mahito he's just a kid when his mother lost her life in a fire during the war; shortly after he moves with his father away from Tokyo, to the country estate of Natsukohis father's new wife, as well as her late mother's younger sister. Mahito doesn't like his new life: his stepmother is expecting a child and will never be able to replace his mother, plus at school he doesn't get along with his new classmates, which is why one day he injures his head by hitting himself with a stone . During her convalescence she escapes to explore the surrounding nature and he makes a bow and arrow to try to shoot a heron that seems to torment him. What he still doesn't know is that inside the gray heron there is a man hiding, who will guide him on a journey to discover life and death, between past, present and future.

The long journey of growth and life

The characters we meet while watching this anime are multiple and all of them they play a key role in the storysince even those that in a certain sense we could consider “secondary” have a specific function, therefore it can be said that they are all perfectly characterized, not only from an aesthetic and moral point of view, but also symbolically. Among all, the hero of history, i.e. the twelve year old Mahito Maki, who finds himself having to face the loss of his mother at a very young age; he is a polite and perceptive little boy and carries this great pain within him, but at the same time he does not let himself be discouraged by the difficulties of events and demonstrates great determination, which grows and consolidates over the course of events.

Mahito It therefore seems to have all the characteristics of typical protagonist of coming-of-age stories and in fact one of the many themes addressed by Miyazaki is also that of growth. On what we might call a contrasting plane, we have the heronwhich in Japanese tradition symbolizes the death and the passage between the world of the living and that of the deceased; apparently enemy and Mahito's antagonist, the gray heron will turn out to be his friend and he will lead the way inside an unknown and mysterious world.

As for the personages femininewe can notice that within this film women do not play a merely traditional role, but rather they themselves they embody remarkable qualities such as strength, self-determination, tenacity and freedom. They are not the classic girls to be saved, but they themselves are saving: think of the young girl Kiriko the moment he helps Mahito after having just been overwhelmed by the parrots who push him through the gate, or a Himiwhich prevents him from being cut up and eaten by the parakeets themselves, not to mention the elderly maids equipped with brooms who take care of the boy at the estate and who will do the same during his adventures in the form of tender and at the same time venerable figurines.

As mentioned above, the story unfolds in the form of voyage and therefore takes on all the connotations of a path that symbolizes growth and life, with its difficulties and obstacles. A life which, if lived in the name of good rather than evil, presents different consequences. The boy and the heron he therefore also wants to teach us that our actions and decisions influence and shape the future, ours and those who succeed us. This is the strong point of Miyazaki's latest film: knowing how to make the viewer reflectfrom the youngest to the oldest, triggering questions in him to which it is possible not to find an immediate answer, precisely because certain awarenesses are acquired with time and with the experience of what is lived.

An engaging technique

On a technical level we can appreciate the quality of the scriptwhich he places on the screen breathtaking natural landscapeswith light and at the same time bright colors, which capture attention as if they were painted. Flowers, waterways, streets, trees and bushes are not simply the backdrop to the scenes, but they also become protagonists of a story that captures its audience even from a purely visual point of view.

As for the soundtrack, it was composed by Joe Hisaishi, Japanese composer, pianist and director who is in his eleventh collaboration with Miyazaki: unlike the one used in the Maestro's other animated films, in this case the music is characterized by a more minimal style and some songs see the appearance of only one musical instrument, namely the pianowith the aim of delineating a melancholy atmosphere and at times dramatic. As background to the credits we can then listen to the song with the title Spinning Globecomposed and performed by the J-pop singer Kenshi Yonezu, who presented the demo to Miyazaki years earlier, strictly on CD, who was visibly excited at the first listen and decided to rework and use it.

The Italian dubbing boasts, among many, some important names such as that of Lucrezia Marricchiformerly the voice of Usagi Tsukino in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal, Rodolfo Bianchi Already Inspector Koichi Zenigata in some spin-off series of Lupine III, as well as Gianfranco Mirandawhich gives the word to Bit in Kung Fu Panda – Mythical adventures.

Who do we recommend The Boy and the Heron to?

If you loved all the previous works by us Studio Ghibliyou can't miss it The boy and the heron, the brand new animated film by Hayao Miyazaki and probably even the most autobiographical among all. We recommend you see it if you love immersing yourself in natural landscapes with soft and lively colors at the same time, if you like to reflect on symbols and metaphors and if you believe in the values ​​of friendship and family.