“The Boy and the Heron” is a beautifully told story about moving on from grief that is elevated by the classic Ghibli art style.
The movie follows Mahito (Soma Santoki, Luca Padovan), a twelve year old boy, who is struggling with settling into a new town after his mothers death. That is until a strange talking heron tells him that his mother is still alive. Now on a mission to find his mother he enters an abandoned tower and gets thrown into another world.
The release of “The Boy and the Heron” sees the return of the masterful Hayao Miyazaki who hasn’t released a movie since 2012’s “The Wind Rises”. It also sees the return of the wonderfully classic Ghibli style of animation that the studio’s previous feature “Earwig and the Witch” lacked. It truly is a return to form for a studio that has released countless classics.
The story is very different from any previous Miyazaki movie in that it feels much more loose in the narrative. There are many moments of quiet in the movie where the plot doesn’t necessarily move forward. It also feels like Miyazaki doesn’t hold the viewers hand and wants them to solve the meaning of the movie on their own, but even with that the story is still amazing and one of Miyazaki’s best.
By far Miyazaki’s most personal film, it’s inspired by the relationships that Miyazaki has had in his career at Studio Ghibli. More specifically his relationship with Isao Takahata who passed away in 2018 and deeply struck Miyazaki who had known him for decades. In many ways Mahito is Miyazaki and through the course of the movie he has to come to terms with the passing of someone close to him and move on.
Even with the heavy subtext of the story it still holds that Ghibli charm that so many love. With many funny moments throughout and many more moments of pure beauty. The animation is some of the smoothest 2D animation I have seen in years. The performances in both the sub and the dub both create a truly magical world to witness.
The sub performances are all stellar as they always are and just like every other Ghibli movie the dub is just as good. During the 124 minute runtime the dub performances are especially great because many of the actors you wouldn’t even recognize like the Heron who is played by Robert Pattinson. It’s nice to see an animated movie where actors weren’t hired for their voice, but for a performance of a character.
The music in the movie is absolutely stellar as well. Once again created by the masterful Joe Hisaishi who has orchestrated every Miyazaki soundtrack since “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” in 1984. The theme song “Spinning Globe” by Kenshi Yonezu is also good and very fitting for the movie.
“The Boy and the Heron” is yet another masterpiece directed by Hayao Miyazaki and because of how personal it is it is also possibly one of Miyazaki’s best movies. With incredible introspection into Miyazaki’s life and relationships along with amazing characters and a strikingly beautiful world this is a must see for everyone, especially if you love Studio Ghibli.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Starring Japanese: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Shōhei Hino, Ko Shibasaki, Kaoru Kobayashi, Jun Kunimura
Starring English: Luca Padovan, Robert Pattinson, Karen Fukuhara, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Mark Hamill, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe, Dave Bautista
Rated PG
Runtime: 124 minutes
My Rating: ★★★★★
