Hayao
Miyazaki is an animator and director who were born in Tokyo in 1941. Some films
that he directed and animated were
Nausica, Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Totoro, and Princess Mononoke.
He is internationally recognized and has won awards such as an Oscar for Spirited Away in 2002. After his release
of Nausica, he co-founded Studio
Ghibli, which is where he has been working for the past years. Something that
is predominant in Miyazaki’s films is a female protagonist. This for a Japanese
filmmaker would seem like an odd thing, considering Confucianism and the idea
that women are “inside the house”. The films usually portray a young female
heroine who doesn’t fit social norms. Miyazaki believes that the difference
between a man with a gun and a woman with a gun is a “powerful thing”. A theme
usually seen in his films were the struggle between nature and humanity.
Animism is also shown through his films, giving a voice to many different objects
and characters. A good example of this is when the main character in Spirited away ends up accidentally stepping on a 'soot sprite' who reforms, becomes annoyed, then goes back to work. This method of giving character to nature and people alike
would lead to the next prominent theme in Miyazaki’s film, where the
antagonists aren’t completely evil. They are either misunderstood or misguided.
His films aren’t black or white, with definite good and evil, but all gray area
where the antagonist usually learns from their previous errors (Bernard).
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| Notice the beautiful landscape |
His
films are filled with beautiful landscapes and animation, and themes that “hymns
the beauty and mystery of the natural world. Miyazaki believed that “before
they are stuck in classrooms, kids should be outside messing around with fire,
climbing trees and tying ropes… Experiencing the sort of outdoorsy,
unstructured childhood Miyazaki’s own generation enjoyed”. Miyazaki feels
strongly about nature, which explains why his films represent nature as a
living feeling force. He says how he “was frustrated because nature – the mountains
and rivers – was being destroyed in the name of economic progress”. Though
Miyazaki hasn’t appointed a successor at Studio Ghibli, his son Goro directed a
hit film Tales from Earthsea (Schilling).
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| Soot Sprites |
In an
interview, Miyazaki revealed how he creates his films without a script. He
would start working on a film before the story was completely finished. When
asked about how he is able to arrive to a stories conclusion Miyazaki replies
with “It’s not me who makes the film. The film makes itself and I have no
choice but to follow”. When asked about how his stories tend to be very
free and independent of logic, Miyazaki responded with “You can't make a film with logic. Or if you look at it
differently, everybody can make a film with logic. But my way is to not use
logic. I try to dig deep into the well of my subconscious”. His films are made
for children with “a lot of devotion”, which appeals to the adult audience as
well. He claims that “the single difference between films for children and
films for adults is that in films for children, there is always the option to
start again, to create a new beginning. In films for adults, there are no ways
to change things. What happened, happened” (Mes).
Questions:
How do
Miyazaki’s themes relate to various Japanese beliefs?
Do you
believe it makes sense to not have a definite bad character within a film?
Bernard, Anna. "Hayao Miyazaki Themes." Outsider Japan. PB Works, 2010. Web. 17 Sept. 2012.
<http://outsiderjapan.pbworks.com/w/page/29870735/Hayao%20Miyazaki%20Themes>.
Shilling, Mark. "An Audience with Miyazaki, Japan's
Animation King." The Japan Times Online: News
on Japan, Business News, Opinion, Sports, Entertainment and More. Japan Times, 04
Dec. 2008. Web. 17
Sept. 2012.
<http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ff20081204r2.html>.
Mes, Tom. "Hayao
Miyazaki." Midnight Eye Interview:. Midnight Eye, 7 Jan. 2002.
Web. 17 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/hayao-miyazaki/>.
One theme that relates to Japanese beliefs is the presence of animism within the film. The belief of souls within inanimate creatures is significant to Japanese culture and also viewed within Miyazak's films.
ReplyDeleteMiyazak's fixation with nature in his anime film is especially telling of Japanese culture, because of the awareness of the seasons. The anime images look very typical of Japanese based anime.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of animism seems to remain a consistent theme in Japanese culture and society. It is fundamental to a lot of things that Japanese artists experiment with.
ReplyDeleteYes, animism is quite present in most if not all of his films, along with the connection with nature. Miyazaki actually tends to use animism to emphasize the importance of nature.
ReplyDeleteAnimism and nature are extremely important in his film. Japan people are very in tune with the seasons and he seems to show this in the movie.
ReplyDelete