Review: The Boy And The Heron

Image courtesy of Studio Ghibli. 

It's been a decade since Hayao Miyazaki last unleashed one of his gorgeous, strange, and magical films on the world and many thought 2013's "The Wind Rises" would be his last. Thankfully, he has returned with a new film, "The Boy and the Heron," which plays in some respects as a greatest hits for the director. 

It tells a child's story as he finds himself in a fantastical world while dealing with grief and attempting to find a way to free his pregnant stepmother, all of which sound like pieces from other Miyazaki films. However, Miyazaki's is a singular voice and even if some of the elements feel overly familiar - and the plot occasionally labyrinthine - it's the emotions and the loving detail to which the animator and filmmaker have crafted its visuals that make it entrancing.

The film's original title was "How Do You Live?," which is also the name of a novel by Genzaburo Yoshino that makes an appearance here with a note to Mahito, the boy who is the lead character, from his mother, who died in World War II in a Tokyo hospital fire that opens the film. He is sent to the countryside by his father, Shoichi, to live with his new, pregnant stepmother, Natsuko, who is the sister of his late mother.

Bored by his new surroundings and unfriendly to Natsuko, Mahito meets a heron that teases him about his mother and notes that his "presence is requested." After Natsuko goes missing, Mahito follows the bird to a tower where his great-granduncle once disappeared. Upon entering the tower, Mahito is plunged into a strange and fantastical world that is ruled by birds, from hordes of pelicans to man-sized and violent parakeets as well as small creatures known as warawara that float to Earth to become people.

As always, Miyazaki's latest film is full of wonder and fantastical sights - one particularly memorable moment involves the floating of the warawara up into the sky as they try to avoid being eaten by pelicans, while another takes place during Mahito's first meeting with the heron as he is covered in frogs and other creatures. 

During the course of the film, Mahito uses this fantasy world to escape the pain of the real one, namely having to deal with a new mother who replaces the one lost in the fire at the beginning whom he occasionally believes he sees while navigating this Wonderland. Mahito learns that while we can escape into fantasy worlds for respite, we must ultimately find the courage to live in the real one.

Miyazaki is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the past 30 years. My personal favorite of his work is the spellbinding "Spirited Away," although I also have a soft spot for the lovely "My Neighbor Totoro." It's great to see Miyazaki back at work and, hopefully, this won't be his last. "The Boy and the Heron" is a nice reminder of how magical the experience of watching one of his films can be.