âThe Wind Risesâ: Hayao Miyazakiâs new film stirs controversy
âThe Wind Rises,â Hayao Miyazakiâs first feature directorial effort in five years, will premiere at the Venice and Toronto film festivals in coming weeks, and a new trailer has piqued the curiosity of the 72-year-old animatorâs devoted fan base.
But âThe Wind Rises,â or âKaze Tachinu,â has already stirred a controversy in Mayazakiâs native Japan, where it opened July 20.
In stark contrast to Miyazakiâs fantasy-based animated family movies such as âSpirited Away,â âPonyoâ and âHowlâs Moving Castle,â âThe Wind Risesâ is a biopic of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Zero fighter plane, which the Japanese used during World War II.
The movieâs subject dovetails with an issue currently under heated debate in Japan: the new prime ministerâs plan to amend the countryâs constitution to allow for the building of a full-fledged military, boosting the limited self-defense forces put in place after the war.
Miyazaki, a venerated cultural figure in Japan, published an essay last month objecting to Prime Minister Shinzo Abeâs plan, in the process raising the ire of some Japanese conservatives, who on Internet message boards labeled him âanti-Japaneseâ and a âtraitor.â
Miyazakiâs movie, which is seeking U.S. distribution, reflects his pacifist stance. In the subtitled trailer above, he depicts Japan in the years leading up to WWII, when it faced some of the same problems that have plagued the country in recent years, including a devastating earthquake and economic stagnation. The character of Horikoshi appears as a contemplative young man, tossing paper airplanes with a girl, gazing at the Japanese countryside from the window of a steam train and working in a factory, until the war hits and the tone shifts, with a plane breaking up in the sky and blood falling to the ground.
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Miyazaki has some shared history with Horikoshi. During the war, his fatherâs company made rudders for the designerâs Zero planes. He also has another connection to the war: when Miyazaki was a child, his father ran a club that served occupying American soldiers.
In 2011, Miyazaki told Japanâs Cut magazine that he was inspired to make âThe Wind Risesâ by a quote he read of Horikoshiâs: âAll I wanted to do was to make something beautiful.â
The controversy over the film hasnât hurt its box office prospects in Japan. âThe Wind Risesâ has been the No. 1 film since it opened four weeks ago, and has so far grossed $57 million there.
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