The Boy and the Heron is supposedly the final film from Japanese magician Hayao Miyazaki. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2024 was given to Miyazaki’s masterpiece.
This film was released in Japan and was called “Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka” which translates to “How Do You Live?”. The title comes from a 1937 novel by Genzaburō Yoshino with the same name.
A twelve-year-old boy named Mahito Maki, yearning for his mother, ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead, or the past and the present, as he embarks on an epic journey with a grey heron as his guide. Mahito must uncover the secrets of the world and the truth about himself.
First dealing with the loss of Mahito’s mother in the hospital from wartime bombing, moving to a new place, and finding out he has a new mother who is also about to have a baby which can make a kid confused and uncomfortable. Especially since we see Mahito constantly lingering on his mother’s death, having nightmares, and hearing voices while on fire, that’s when a creepy Heron constantly harasses him, taking every opportunity it can to lead Mahito to the mysterious tower, guiding him to a realm below through a wild adventure to retrieve his new mom.
In this journey, he meets the younger self of his mother, who passed away from the fire. Mahito was given the choice of becoming a literal God to rescue the world, as the tower master is old and dying, but Mahito refused the granduncle’s proposal and came back to the real world with his new mother.
The journey that Mahito goes on in the movie can feel rather convoluted and disjointed. Certain creatures down there float upwards, and we’re told that they will become living beings in the real world. This island that he’s on is surrounded by water, and it seems like nobody can escape it. As soon as he ventures into this world, the movie takes on a dreamlike feel that reminded me more of Angel’s Egg than anything Ghibli has ever produced, which is why I’m blown away that it’s number one at the box office, has received great reviews from critics and audiences, and is doing as well as it has.
Because this is by no means a movie that takes you by the hand and says, ‘Have fun.‘ This is not necessarily a movie for kids either; it is a deeply mature film. Miyazaki’s name has something to do with this, but I also think people are excited to see something challenging. In typical Ghibli fashion, the animation is astonishing. It was so wonderful to see a hand-drawn movie on the big screen, and part of me hopes that its number one opening at the box office will make some people in Hollywood start thinking, ‘Maybe we could do more hand-drawn features.’
I know that style is very time-consuming and difficult, but there is a sequence in this movie where Mahito has to cut open a fish, and what occurs doesn’t seem particularly visually arresting in animation. What’s so great is that it’s kind of played for a laugh.
The Boy and the Heron, or Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, is not exactly an easy movie. It is a rather difficult one that doesn’t immediately give you all the answers and might be a little too confusing, but in my opinion, this is an extremely well-animated, gorgeous film. And this is the type of movie that a true magician can make. This movie will make you sit back and think for a very long time.
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Writer,
Ferdous Ara Rimi
Intern, Department of Content Writing
YSSE.