The Boy and the Heron, or its original Japanese title, “How Do You Live?” is Hayao Miyazaki’s latest final film to not be his final film. Its contents were kept strictly under wraps with limited press up until its July 2023 release in Japan and was finally put out in English speaking markets
In both sub and dub formats this week. I watched the dub, so be aware that this review won’t reflect things that are only in the original Japanese version I also won’t be divulging plot points in detail, but I will be alluding to things, so proceed with caution.
I went into this movie as un-spoiled as possible and I think I benefited from it, as the cryptic nature of the story was a major part of what kept me hooked, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet and you intend to, well… make good choices The film revolves around 12-year-old Mahito,
Moving out of Tokyo and into the countryside with his late mother’s pregnant sister becoming his stepmother right in the middle of the Pacific War. The story is very loosely adapted from the Japanese novel “How Do You Live?” a childhood favorite of Miyazaki’s written by Japanese socialist Genzaburo Yoshino,
Who wanted to educate young readers on progressive social ideals and personal philosophy while under the thumb of the imperial Japanese government who has imprisoned him for his politics. While coming-of-age stories are Miyazaki’s bread and butter, this is notably one of his only films
To revolve around an adolescent boy rather than a young girl. Just the same, in many ways, this movie is brimming with Miyazaki’s visual and storytelling staples while also feeling like a significant departure from his past works. The film largely takes place in two settings, with the line between them murky
But also so distinct in style and tone that it almost feels like two different stories. For nearly the entire first hour, Mahito is in what could be called “the real world,” and once he crosses over into the fantasy realm in search of his mother,
The shape of the film changes gradually but massively by the time it’s done. For the first segment, the film is almost shockingly slow and largely silent, meandering as Mahito settles into his new life. There is very little dialogue for this segment. It takes Mahito around ten or so minutes of the film
To even start really speaking once he arrives, and he mostly walked around stony-faced and troubled. Each scene has a bit of strangeness to it, but the fantasy doesn’t leak in for a while. Still, nothing feels quite right. I used the word “cryptic” earlier,
But that was the phrase that kept coming to mind as I watched. Every detail, be it a brief piece of the scarce dialogue or a visual element, seemed to be a clue as to what was going on, but their meanings weren’t beating you over the head.
It felt as if you were being invited to puzzle out this story yourself, slowly and gently. The narrative seems to breadcrumb these tidbits of information for the entire segment while never offering much actual exposition, and this continues throughout. In this sense, the film did almost
Feel like a mystery to me for the bulk of its length. I was almost expecting some grand reveal at the end, maybe with some monologue that would make sense of it all, but instead Miyazaki ties all those little breadcrumbs together coupled with strong visual language
to make it all cohesive without spoon-feeding you much of it. It has all the trappings of a child-friendly Ghibli movie on the surface – cartoonish, colorful characters, food that you want to make a repetitive Twitter thread about, and big visually stunning adventures –
but there’s something very adult in its execution. Like the two distinct worlds shown in it, Boy and the Heron straddles many lines, and it does so with deft precision. There’s a lot of decidedly adult themes at play. Death seems to hang over every scene in some form or another
And it’s bursting with gore in a way that few Miyazaki films are, but I wouldn’t call this a film that’s not appropriate for children, or even not made for them. To the contrary, I think this film’s narrative takes a unique spin: while coming of age tales typically handle pubescent children like Mahito
Leaving behind childish things and learning to grow up in the process, Boy and the Heron sees Mahito shedding the hardened skin he acquires through wartime trauma to re-engage with the whimsy and warmth of his youth and the joy of the world around him,
While still learning the adult lesson of accepting pain and carrying on anyway. I had been expecting a dour, much more serious Miyazaki work from what little I knew about this film, something far more aligned with Princess Mononoke than Ponyo . But the film does something interesting
In how it starts off with this almost Dickensian, stiff opening that leaves you slightly on edge and filled with questions, then eases into the dreamlike worlds we associate with Spirited Away and Howl, and dabbles with humor and color more and more until the landscape has dissipated into something altogether whimsical,
While never losing sight of the dark realities it presents from the start. GKIDS marketed the film as having autobiographical elements for Miyazaki, and it certainly signals to the sort of emotional depth that can come from an artist who can grow up surrounded by war and sickness and isolation
And weave colorful stories of resilience and wonder Mahito grows up in softening to the cold world around him as a means of surviving pain, not toughening to brave its winds to the point of calcifying. It’s a pretty compelling reversal: maybe there’s a kind of maturity in knowing that life can be tragic
And finding a reason to keep going while you’re fully aware of that. The dub was handled by GKIDS, making it the first Miyazaki dub to not be led by Disney in a very long time. I think however they put the film in good hands, as their reputation for quality dubbing
Has become pretty established already. I remember enjoying their work on Promare quite a bit, and I think they did a good job of retaining what made the Disney dubs work. The voice acting is neither too cartoonish nor too straightforwardly theatrical, with a good blend
Of Hollywood screen talent and voice artist veterans, and in that sense I found it very reminiscent of the beloved dubs of films like Spirited Away and Ponyo. Far and away I think Robert Pattinson was the standout performer. His unorthodox character voice for the Heron definitely took some people, including me,
By surprise, but his actual performance honestly blew me away. There’s a lot of nuance and flair to his technique, so much so that despite being constantly aware of who was playing him, I found myself getting lost in the character anyway. The Heron goes through a lot of transformations,
Both physically and emotionally, throughout the film and his voice work reflects these ups and downs flawlessly, infusing the character with pathos and comedy alike. It made me eager to see Pattinson do more voice acting in the future. Some other standouts include Willem Dafoe in a brief but impactful role
And Dave Bautista, who is quickly becoming my favorite wrestler-turned actor. I’ve found myself getting more and more excited every time I see him in a cast list for a new project. Christian Bale returns to the Miyazaki-vers as Mahito’s father, but I honestly found his performance kind of distracting.
His accent sounded a little all over the place, and I kept getting kind of taken out of the moment by it. It was definitely a departure from his performance as Howl, for better or for worse, but he’s not a huge part of it so whatever. Florence Pugh did a strong job
As one of the characters that inhabits the fantasy half of the story, and I think it was a fun difference between her work in Puss in Boots last year. I also enjoyed the gaggle of old women who live on Natsuko’s estate, who are played by a mix of veteran voice actors
And screen actors like Orange is the New Black’s Barbara Rosenblat. Karen Fukuhara, a relatively younger but already well-known talent from a number of successful geek IPs, has the Ghibli dub style nailed perfectly. Boy and the Heron should do it for any Ghibli fan,
But I do think it’ll probably hit the spot best for fans of Princess Mononoke and his other more somber pieces. This is probably one of Miyazaki’s most thoughtful films, so much so that I wonder how much justice I can do it in a review so soon after seeing it
Because there’s so much to chew on thematically and artistically. It’s beautiful visually, but you expect that already. I will say, though, that I thought it was excellent and arguably one of his best films in quite a long time – and remember when I say that
That I don’t think any of his films are even close to “bad” to begin with. I also think it’s one of his films most liable to spark heated discussion, and I think that’s a high compliment for a filmmaker so late in his career. There’s a lot of jokes to be made
About Miyazaki retiring, coming back to make his “final film” and then repeating the cycle over and over, but as he closes in on his eighty-third birthday, I think it’s remarkable that we get to observe an auteur whose already incredible output still has room to produce even more incredible work.
We can meme on it as much as we want, but we’re pretty blessed to be in a world where someone as brilliant as Hayao Miyazaki is still eager to make films like this. There’s a scene in “The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness,” a documentary about Studio Ghibli,
Where Miyazaki stares out into the horizon and talks about his studio’s future. He plainly states it will eventually be gone, and there’s no point worrying about it because it’s inevitable. This seemingly sad, fatalist idea is packaged with the sight of a clear blue sky, and the comfort of accepting
The fleeting and often painful parts of reality and still pressing on with warmth and hope regardless. This is without a doubt the kind of mindset that informs Mahito’s story arc. The Boy and the Heron has the makings of a Ghibli classic. And I think it’s a grade-A piece of film.
The Boy and the Heron and RPattz (REVIEW)
First review video! Is the new Miyazaki film any good? More importantly, how’s Willem Dafoe?
FURTHER READING (SOME LINKS CONTAIN SPOILERS!):
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/books/review/how-do-you-live-genzaburo-yoshino.html
https://www.vulture.com/article/the-boy-and-the-heron-explained-the-lie-is-the-point.html
SONGS USED:
Doug Maxwell – Angelic Forest
Had She Stayed – Puddle of Infinity
Kevin MacLeod – Atlantean Twilight
Chris Zabriskie – Oxygen Garden
Written, narrated & edited by Kai Delmare
Instagram/Threads: kaicedcoffee
Twitter: @KGDelmare
Cohost: @kaicedlatte
The Boy and the Heron, or its original Japanese title, “How Do You Live?” is Hayao Miyazaki’s latest final film to not be his final film. Its contents were kept strictly under wraps with limited press up until its July 2023 release in Japan and was finally put out in English speaking markets
In both sub and dub formats this week. I watched the dub, so be aware that this review won’t reflect things that are only in the original Japanese version I also won’t be divulging plot points in detail, but I will be alluding to things, so proceed with caution.
I went into this movie as un-spoiled as possible and I think I benefited from it, as the cryptic nature of the story was a major part of what kept me hooked, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet and you intend to, well… make good choices The film revolves around 12-year-old Mahito,
Moving out of Tokyo and into the countryside with his late mother’s pregnant sister becoming his stepmother right in the middle of the Pacific War. The story is very loosely adapted from the Japanese novel “How Do You Live?” a childhood favorite of Miyazaki’s written by Japanese socialist Genzaburo Yoshino,
Who wanted to educate young readers on progressive social ideals and personal philosophy while under the thumb of the imperial Japanese government who has imprisoned him for his politics. While coming-of-age stories are Miyazaki’s bread and butter, this is notably one of his only films
To revolve around an adolescent boy rather than a young girl. Just the same, in many ways, this movie is brimming with Miyazaki’s visual and storytelling staples while also feeling like a significant departure from his past works. The film largely takes place in two settings, with the line between them murky
But also so distinct in style and tone that it almost feels like two different stories. For nearly the entire first hour, Mahito is in what could be called “the real world,” and once he crosses over into the fantasy realm in search of his mother,
The shape of the film changes gradually but massively by the time it’s done. For the first segment, the film is almost shockingly slow and largely silent, meandering as Mahito settles into his new life. There is very little dialogue for this segment. It takes Mahito around ten or so minutes of the film
To even start really speaking once he arrives, and he mostly walked around stony-faced and troubled. Each scene has a bit of strangeness to it, but the fantasy doesn’t leak in for a while. Still, nothing feels quite right. I used the word “cryptic” earlier,
But that was the phrase that kept coming to mind as I watched. Every detail, be it a brief piece of the scarce dialogue or a visual element, seemed to be a clue as to what was going on, but their meanings weren’t beating you over the head.
It felt as if you were being invited to puzzle out this story yourself, slowly and gently. The narrative seems to breadcrumb these tidbits of information for the entire segment while never offering much actual exposition, and this continues throughout. In this sense, the film did almost
Feel like a mystery to me for the bulk of its length. I was almost expecting some grand reveal at the end, maybe with some monologue that would make sense of it all, but instead Miyazaki ties all those little breadcrumbs together coupled with strong visual language
to make it all cohesive without spoon-feeding you much of it. It has all the trappings of a child-friendly Ghibli movie on the surface – cartoonish, colorful characters, food that you want to make a repetitive Twitter thread about, and big visually stunning adventures –
but there’s something very adult in its execution. Like the two distinct worlds shown in it, Boy and the Heron straddles many lines, and it does so with deft precision. There’s a lot of decidedly adult themes at play. Death seems to hang over every scene in some form or another
And it’s bursting with gore in a way that few Miyazaki films are, but I wouldn’t call this a film that’s not appropriate for children, or even not made for them. To the contrary, I think this film’s narrative takes a unique spin: while coming of age tales typically handle pubescent children like Mahito
Leaving behind childish things and learning to grow up in the process, Boy and the Heron sees Mahito shedding the hardened skin he acquires through wartime trauma to re-engage with the whimsy and warmth of his youth and the joy of the world around him,
While still learning the adult lesson of accepting pain and carrying on anyway. I had been expecting a dour, much more serious Miyazaki work from what little I knew about this film, something far more aligned with Princess Mononoke than Ponyo . But the film does something interesting
In how it starts off with this almost Dickensian, stiff opening that leaves you slightly on edge and filled with questions, then eases into the dreamlike worlds we associate with Spirited Away and Howl, and dabbles with humor and color more and more until the landscape has dissipated into something altogether whimsical,
While never losing sight of the dark realities it presents from the start. GKIDS marketed the film as having autobiographical elements for Miyazaki, and it certainly signals to the sort of emotional depth that can come from an artist who can grow up surrounded by war and sickness and isolation
And weave colorful stories of resilience and wonder Mahito grows up in softening to the cold world around him as a means of surviving pain, not toughening to brave its winds to the point of calcifying. It’s a pretty compelling reversal: maybe there’s a kind of maturity in knowing that life can be tragic
And finding a reason to keep going while you’re fully aware of that. The dub was handled by GKIDS, making it the first Miyazaki dub to not be led by Disney in a very long time. I think however they put the film in good hands, as their reputation for quality dubbing
Has become pretty established already. I remember enjoying their work on Promare quite a bit, and I think they did a good job of retaining what made the Disney dubs work. The voice acting is neither too cartoonish nor too straightforwardly theatrical, with a good blend
Of Hollywood screen talent and voice artist veterans, and in that sense I found it very reminiscent of the beloved dubs of films like Spirited Away and Ponyo. Far and away I think Robert Pattinson was the standout performer. His unorthodox character voice for the Heron definitely took some people, including me,
By surprise, but his actual performance honestly blew me away. There’s a lot of nuance and flair to his technique, so much so that despite being constantly aware of who was playing him, I found myself getting lost in the character anyway. The Heron goes through a lot of transformations,
Both physically and emotionally, throughout the film and his voice work reflects these ups and downs flawlessly, infusing the character with pathos and comedy alike. It made me eager to see Pattinson do more voice acting in the future. Some other standouts include Willem Dafoe in a brief but impactful role
And Dave Bautista, who is quickly becoming my favorite wrestler-turned actor. I’ve found myself getting more and more excited every time I see him in a cast list for a new project. Christian Bale returns to the Miyazaki-vers as Mahito’s father, but I honestly found his performance kind of distracting.
His accent sounded a little all over the place, and I kept getting kind of taken out of the moment by it. It was definitely a departure from his performance as Howl, for better or for worse, but he’s not a huge part of it so whatever. Florence Pugh did a strong job
As one of the characters that inhabits the fantasy half of the story, and I think it was a fun difference between her work in Puss in Boots last year. I also enjoyed the gaggle of old women who live on Natsuko’s estate, who are played by a mix of veteran voice actors
And screen actors like Orange is the New Black’s Barbara Rosenblat. Karen Fukuhara, a relatively younger but already well-known talent from a number of successful geek IPs, has the Ghibli dub style nailed perfectly. Boy and the Heron should do it for any Ghibli fan,
But I do think it’ll probably hit the spot best for fans of Princess Mononoke and his other more somber pieces. This is probably one of Miyazaki’s most thoughtful films, so much so that I wonder how much justice I can do it in a review so soon after seeing it
Because there’s so much to chew on thematically and artistically. It’s beautiful visually, but you expect that already. I will say, though, that I thought it was excellent and arguably one of his best films in quite a long time – and remember when I say that
That I don’t think any of his films are even close to “bad” to begin with. I also think it’s one of his films most liable to spark heated discussion, and I think that’s a high compliment for a filmmaker so late in his career. There’s a lot of jokes to be made
About Miyazaki retiring, coming back to make his “final film” and then repeating the cycle over and over, but as he closes in on his eighty-third birthday, I think it’s remarkable that we get to observe an auteur whose already incredible output still has room to produce even more incredible work.
We can meme on it as much as we want, but we’re pretty blessed to be in a world where someone as brilliant as Hayao Miyazaki is still eager to make films like this. There’s a scene in “The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness,” a documentary about Studio Ghibli,
Where Miyazaki stares out into the horizon and talks about his studio’s future. He plainly states it will eventually be gone, and there’s no point worrying about it because it’s inevitable. This seemingly sad, fatalist idea is packaged with the sight of a clear blue sky, and the comfort of accepting
The fleeting and often painful parts of reality and still pressing on with warmth and hope regardless. This is without a doubt the kind of mindset that informs Mahito’s story arc. The Boy and the Heron has the makings of a Ghibli classic. And I think it’s a grade-A piece of film.