By Shayna Frost | Staff writer, Copy editor
Hayao Miyazaki’s films never cease to amaze with their beautiful story lines and visuals. The Wind Rises is no exception. Following the life of a boy named Jiro, who dreams of becoming an airplane engineer, The Wind Rises takes place in Japan during World War II, where the boy’s dreams become reality. Jiro is in love with airplanes and the beauty of their construction, but he finds himself having to incorporate weapons of destruction for the war into his so deeply admired creations.
Along Jiro’s journey of becoming a worldwide- recognized engineer, he finds love. A girl named Naoko comes into his life and sweeps him off his feet. At first just a friendly encounter on a train without exchanging names, the couple meet again years later and fall in love.
The Wind Rises is rumored to be Miyazaki’s last film, and this film was quite different from his other works. Miyazaki always includes elements of fantasy and false reality in his films, but The Wind Rises did not. He used historical elements and kept this film as believable and real as possible, without any made up creatures or places.
The Wind Rises was an unexpected yet refreshing change to other Miyazaki masterpieces such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Connecting with the characters in this film was very easy, and I often felt like I was a part of the movie. There was one “downfall” to this movie, and that was the sound effects. Many of the effects were made by mouth, and it was quite obvious. While I did not find the sound effects to take away from the film’s greatness, others may find the sounds comical or irritating.
In the end, The Wind Rises was a film full of tragedy, love, and achievement. If this was indeed Miyazaki’s last film, he did not disappoint.