This is an animated, semi-autobiographical Japanese fantasy film about life and death in times of stress.
THE BOY AND THE HERON. Animated Japanese film starring Soma Santoki, Yoshino Kimura, Shohei Hino et al. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Rated PG (Mild fantasy themes, animated violence and occasional coarse language). 124 min.
Review by Peter Sheehan, Jesuit Media Australia
This feature-length fantasy film was produced in 2023 by Studio Ghibli, and references the 1937 novel of the same name by Genzaburo Yoshino. It follows a young boy, Manitoba Maki, whose mother died in a war-time fire, and he moves to the country-side after she has passed away. Following her death, he enters a world of fantasy with a talking Grey Heron. The film was awarded the Academy Oscar for best animated feature film of 2023, and is the most recent animated movie made by Studio Ghibli. It deals with the themes of age, conflict and loss, and the traumas that are evoked by coping with them in a modern world.
The story is set during World War II in Japan. Grieving about the loss of his mother, Manitoba is traumatised when a war-bomb hits a nearby hospital, where his mother works. He frantically searches for her, and his mother dies in the ensuing fire. A mischievous grey Heron comforts him and promises to find his mother. Manito is deceived at first by a watery-like imitation of his mother that is made by the Heron, but it dissolves when he touches her reflection. He pierces the Heron’s beak with an arrow, and finds a Birdman living inside the Heron. Multiple fantasy adventures follow. The film itself has many autobiographical features – the hospital fire at the beginning of the film evokes personal memories for Director, Hayao Miyazaki, who lost his own mother in a fire, and the film’s themes ask viewers to reflect on their own life in a world marked by violence and uncertainty. The film visually depicts a journey of self-discovery that searches for personal meaning. The emotion that fuels its narrative expresses a boy’s yearning for the presence of his mother, amidst soulful exploration of a variety of thought-provocative themes.
The film uses rich imagery to explore its themes and moves through its images at a rapid pace, making it a visually-complex movie. The animation in the film has fantasy figures that come alive with vivid colour and movement. This is a deeply imaginative film that gives life to a host of fairy tale themes and motifs, many of which are symbolic of the mix of good and evil in human life.
The film itself has a number of confusing elements in its narrative and its fantasy-adventuring is difficult to anticipate, but the richness of its imagery is always evident and highly impressive. The dialogue of the film is minimal, and Miyazaki’s film is deeply reflective. The film was on limited Festival release in 2023, and has wider release in 2024.
Peter W. Sheehan is an Associate of Jesuit Media