“The wind is rising! We must attempt to live!”
"Le vent se lève! Il faut tenter de vivre!”
— Paul Valéry, Le Cimetière Marin
This quote was repeated multiple times throughout the movie to emphasize its importance - by many characters who influenced the direction in which the wind blew. It was evident that this was going to be one of those quiet meaningful films Miyazaki Hayao was known less for. If you were a fan of his feature length animations like I am, you would have known it would be a very serious plot with tragedies along the way. Unlike many of his past feature length animations based on historical events, this one focused solely around the main character - Jiro Horikoshi. Miyazaki tends to emphasize the importance of family and sticking together to accomplish their dreams, these sorts of morals more so than individual dreams. Surely he wanted to focus on the love of Jiro and Naoko. No. He did not. Instead, this story took the viewer to even deeper depths of emotion than his other films.
One of his last works before retirement, and I would say one of the most memorable films of his career. It wasn't the most creative or original plot. But his portrayal of this main character, whose eyesight was too poor to be able to pilot a plane, was ingenious to say the least. It was only a given fact that Miyazaki would take him to the depths of despair and make him rise to the height of the clouds throughout the film. The end was as delightful as it was a burdended sorrow. Naoko would pass away in the absence of Jiro. His role model Caproni appeared since the childhood dream of becoming an aeronautical engineer enveloped his mind. He showed him the horrors of his work and what would come as a result. His boss Kurokawa was a humorous man with a big heart whose presence drew out a chuckle with his overreaction and simplicity in expression of emotions. The audience kindled their hearts to him as he did to Jiro. His role was to be the missing parental figure he lacked in Jiro's immediate presence. Jiro's parents made very few impressions in the entirety of the film. Kurokawa was a more significant character as a father figure and Jiro's father was never seen at all. His mother was beautiful and elegant as the designs he came up with. His sister Kayo is an outspoken, strong, and independent woman whose sharp wit and generosity of heart reached out to Jiro and Naoko endlessly. Castorp, the German whose brief presence at the hotel questioned many, provoked Jiro enough to fill the void in his heart by approaching Naoko and pursuing her. Castorp was a mysterious foreigner who critiqued Hitler's regime and left much too suddenly. Honjo is a faithful friend to the end and an ever present reminder of Jiro's unfulfilled destiny. He challenges Jiro and they inspire each other to keep pursuing their career until they could finally succeed in designing their dream planes.
Naoko Satomi. She was destined to meet Jiro again from the way they parted near the beginning of the film. It was foreseen by the audience. For certain. Her role in this film would be that of a sacrificial lamb that gave her life to support a bigger dream of her husband's. He would continue to work and slave away even while she was sick and slowly journeyed to her deathbed alone. As tragic as this story seems, he rose above the wind and lived. He accomplished his goals and made his dream a reality through the desertion of his family and the love of his life. Some may look back on the comment made by Kurokawa in the cab when he stated that he thought Jiro would marry an airplane, and in some aspects, Jiro was more attached to designing planes than anything or anyone else. He neglects his health by eating sponge cake for dinner and constantly smoking. The only constant in his life from his childhood remains until the end, his dream of designing airplanes.
Ultimately, he succeeds in designing the perfect plane. Caproni congratulates him and invites him for wine - but not before relaying the message that planes are only dreams and will get lost in the sky where they belong, along with Naoko. This tragedy is bittersweet because Jiro is finally free of the burden of accomplishment and success. All the hopes of his supporters are met with grandeur. In a sense, Naoko is buried under the blueprints of his plane's designs. Her support and love gets Jiro the fuel he needs to soar above the clouds. As much as he needs her, he is painfully selfish in coming to his own conclusion as an aeronautical engineer and seeing his plans come to life as another passes on.
My final thoughts on this film linger between misery and happiness. As Jiro would feel, the loss of his love and the gain of his successful career. It is a complex feeling that induces much thought even after the credits have rolled and keeps me looking back to analyze his actions. The story has ended but the film leaves much thought to the viewer as unresolved murder scenes would to detectives and forensic scientists.
0 comments:
Post a Comment