Rating score: 6.7/10
The Boy and the Heron is an award-winning 2023 hand drawn animated film released by the critically acclaimed Studio Ghibli. It’s also the last film made by the director Hayao Miyazaki before his retirement. This is saddening as Miyazaki has made some of the best animated movies of all time like My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Spirited Away (2001).
This movie follows the main character Mahito as he experiences the horrors of WW2 in japan, such as his mother dying in a fire. This movie starts off with a much darker grittier tone than some of the other Ghibli films. I honestly did not expect this from the studio, as usually their films are more lighthearted and whimsical. However, they pulled it off well and from the start it was very intriguing and gripping. A boy gives himself a gash in his head with a rock to escape school? That is a very dark plot point that is somehow pulled off very well and gets the audience to really pity and empathize with the young boy. Along with the very real setting of World War Era Japan, this film is set apart from the other Ghibli films as having a particularly realistic and grounded beginning.
As it progressed, the tone and themes slowly shifted to the typical Ghibli wackiness. Studio Ghibli films always have this sort of elegant zaniness that makes them unique. The boy, Mahito, meets a heron that can turn into this weird short man with a fat nose who takes him into this alternate dimension. Just from hearing that, you can probably already tell how the tone shifts into absolute craziness. The movie takes the audience all across lots of dimensions and worlds and it is captivating yet overwhelming to watch. The ending is satisfying and wholesome, but overall the plot of this movie took way too many left turns and it leaves the audience still confused about what just happened. It leaves whole worlds unresolved and moves on from crazy things to even crazier things without letting the audience breathe.
Some negatives of this movie are, as I mentioned, the insane and zany plot that usually doesn’t really make that much sense. There is a certain Ghibli style and magical fantasy that needs to be eased into with other films first. Another negative that goes hand in hand with the plot was the insane and nonsensical world building. The rules of the world just felt like someone rambling nonsense. There were arbitrary rules to everything that seemed cobbled together loosely. By the end, Mahito finds himself on a floating island in the clouds with Albert Einstein and an anthropomorphic parrot general. It left me completely dumbfounded how this even made sense to anyone. I was honestly disappointed that they stripped away the heartfelt and gritty storytelling of the introduction just to throw whatever bizarre outlandish supernatural things they could think of into the bulk of the movie.
However I still enjoyed the film and there were multiple very positive things about it. The music was incredible and actually beautifully enhanced the eccentric yet stunning setpieces and characters. The music moved and flowed and was maybe one of the most emotional film scores I’ve ever heard. This was immensely complemented by the other huge positive of this film, the gorgeous visuals and animation. The graphics are some of the best I’ve seen, and make the insane ideas of the plot seem more grounded and real. The animation is flawless and honestly the hand painted backgrounds are some of the best in the business. The art and music departments at Studio Ghibli went all out as they usually do, and it makes this film worth a watch just to see the art and hear the score.
Overall, Miyazaki’s last film is a roller coaster that starts slow but descends into complete madness. It is rescued by the positively amazing music and animation that is magical to watch. This movie is relatively enjoyable, and I would recommend this to anyone, but especially fans of Miyazaki’s work.
