The Boy and The Heron Explained | Mythological Influences

buckle up folks and welcome to a deep dive through the mythology of the boy and the Heron you clicked on this video now don't you dare look back just walk slowly backwards out of the graveyard as it turns out miyazaki's worlds are a mixture of mythological literary ideological and historical influences along with just a bunch of weird strange things that come straight out of miyazaki's imagination land so it can be very hard to find miyazaki's Mythic influences if he even had any but I've been doing some research and I think I Unearthed some gold folks I found interesting connections from all over the world and I'm hoping that you all will find them interesting too so let's get right into it first a thank you I've been getting an unreal amount of support lately and it's truly been a humbling experience so I just want to thank everyone who subscribed and watched my wish video because you have made one of my dreams for a really long time come true that said if you haven't subscribed to me yet what are you doing don't you realize I'm the next big thing in the movie review internet I'm gunning for Shi reis's throne here I can't have you mindless baby Souls Dilly Dian go on hit that button we're going to 10,000 mythology inspires a lot of our modern stories some more subtly and some not so subtly Miyazaki films are at once a pleasure and an aggravation for me because they're subtle in their influences and creative in the way all films should be goodness knows we need some creativity these days but they sometimes end up being so subtle that they remind you of Mythology in a way you just can't put your finger on for gosh sakes I want to put my finger on it's so bad that sounded weird anyway back to the movie I think it's pretty well known at this point that the boy and the Heron was primarily inspired by miyazaki's life and career with the grand unle representing Isa takaha miyazaki's V director and friend Birdman representing toshio Suzuki a producer on several of miyazaki's films including this one and mahito himself representing Miyazaki but in this video we're not interested in the meaning of the actual story what did you think this was some kind of movie review Channel no but really the subject of miyazaki's biography has been gone over again and again so I'm going to be focusing more on where the World building ideas come from things like the Birdman's shape shifting and Illusions and the waras floating up to the world to be burnt I mean born and we'll have a look at mythologies and ideologies that may have influenced those ideas the first and most obvious mythical influence is on the basic structure of the story in maho's Arc his story follows the basic building blocks of the monomyth a nearly Universal pattern in mythology where the hero is called into the unknown world to complete a task goes through trials and meets monsters and friends and finally completes the task and returns changed in some way but that isn't the only influence he may have had in Shinto one of the most widespread religions in Japan there's a medieval code of conduct called Bushido or the samurai virtues in it there were eight different virtues that defined a true warrior Justice courage Mercy politeness honesty honor loyalty and self-control mahito exemplifies a bunch of these he shows courage when he plows ahead into the forest in the tower despite cutic CO's warning he shows mercy and politeness when he helps Birdman plug up his beat he shows honesty by admitting the malice inside him and he shows self-control throughout basically the entire movie I mean man doesn't really have any emotions to control it is worth noting how however that Bushido also had a rather extreme nationalistic tint I.E Samurai having to you know what themselves when they Dishonored their country and Miyazaki isn't usually very thrilled about nationalism [Music] so above the entrance to the Grand uncle's Tower is inscribed the following which means divine power created me this is a quote from Dante's Inferno a book written by an Italian guy in 1321 who wanted to see his enemies burn in head in the book the quote is written on the gateway to Hell along with a bunch of other weird and spooky things about death this drives home the idea that the world the is headed to is the world of the dead or an afterlife of some kind but this specific line is a great fit for the movie because the world below indeed seems to have been created through Divine Rock power of some kind and it's also one of the more optimistic sounding lines on the Gateway which fits with miyazaki's recurring optimism in his films after entering the strange and mysterious Tower mahito uses an arrow fletched with one of Birdman's own feathers to shoot him this concept crops up in one of eso's fables called the eagle and the arrow in which an eagle is just minding his own business flying along when and suddenly he's shot with an arrow and notices it has his own feathers on it oh no I have been my own undoing and such in some interpretations of the story this is seen as a punishment for Pride which Birdman seems to have in Spades that and stubbornness we'll talk about the Birdman again later so stay tuned in the beginning of the movie natso tells mahito that her grand uncle had built a series of tunnels under the tower that were sealed off for being too dangerous that and the fact that grand uncle's world is decidedly depicted as being underneath our own world reminds me of you guessed it underworld in various mythologies in Chinese mythology the underworld was called du and was described as a maze of tunnels with various tortures hidden inside and of course there are iconic underworlds in like every other mythology you can think of mlan from maztech mythology and Hell from North mythology and that's not even mentioning the Greek one aptly named you know the underworld when mahito discovers the graveyard he is entranced by the Shadows underneath a square Stone structure reminiscent of ston head these structures are called dolans or portal tombs and are found all over Europe Europe and Korea their purpose remains mysterious though some argue it was for burials in Korea especially remains of important people and their riches have been found within and there are big groupings of them arranged in prehistoric graveyards but what I find most interesting here is that the dolmans actually reappear in the movie in none other than nao's birthing room a place which should be associated with new life but instead is surrounded by the shadows of death making for a very dramatic stage for the most intense part of maho's character Arc after kako saves mahito from the Pelicans she takes him fishing the two then prepare a soup from there absolutely love crafty and catch and serve it to the souls in the world below to give them the strength to fly up to our world and be born this again brings to mind the Chinese afterlife du in the root to reincarnation is marked by the nahi bridge which one must cross in order to begin their next life on said bridge is the goddess of reincarnation mang po who serves the souls of the Dead a special soup which causes them to forget their previous lives leaving them ripe for reincarnation pretty neat huh I like that one in the movie mahito is watched over by the maids from his new home in the form form of a her of stout little dolls who stand around his bed it's a bit of a stretch but I'd say they bear some resemblance to Dara dolls a type of Japanese doll modeled after a Buddhist monk who was known for being ridiculously persistent as such daa dolls are said to help people accomplish their goals and some are even weighted at the bottom so they get back up if you try to knock them over in the movie kako specifically tells mahito not to knock over the dolls so maybe that's [Music] something in a general sense fire is seen by most cultures as being dualistic in nature it has the power to give life but simultaneously the capacity to destroy which when you think about it is probably the most perfect concept they could have thought of for this movie the main theme of the movie is all about the duality of Life how friendships and joy can and must exist alongside Horrors and death and there are several examples of this for one there's the inscription on the gate to the graveyard all those who seek my knowledge will die it implies that the pursuit of something valuable knowledge comes with the heavy price tag of death the theme is present again when HEI saves the war waras from Pelicans but has to sacrifice a few of them in the process it's an equal parts tragic and beautiful and despite maho's protest kido's reaction suggests it must be done he exemplifies the theme again when she argues with mahito about returning to their world mahito tells her she can't go back or she'll die but she assures him she isn't afraid insinuating that no matter the cost life is worth it all this can't help but bring to mind the classic confusion concept of Yin and Y the idea that the world is made up of conflicting forces that must coexist and be in balance and here's beginning a little reviewy but I love movies that have this theme and Miyazaki handles it so well he doesn't shy away from making us feel or see the bad the bittersweetness is a breath of fresh air in a world where art is often all bitter or all sweet above Nao in the birthing room hang hundreds of thin oddly shaped papers that bear some resemblance to Japanese ofua these are slips of paper sometimes made of other materials like wood that contain prayers for protection luck or help in certain areas of life there are specific charms for health during pregnancy called anzan but I wasn't able to find any that looked more like the ones we see in the movie so let me know if anyone has any more information on this when mahito finally makes it to the top of the tower he comes upon a bright trapezoid trapezoid he comes upon a bright trapezoid oh my goodness it's such a hard word when mahito finally makes it to the top of the tower he comes upon a bright trapezoidal door which leads to the Grand uncle's room trapezoidal doors have been used in ancient architecture particularly that of the Incas and Egyptians in the Incan Empire they were simply sturdier and could withstand earthquakes better than regular doors and windows but there's an example from the Great Pyramid of Giza that I found more interesting inside the Great Pyramid is a long path Mage way called the Grand Gallery the grand gallery has a high ceiling almost 29 ft up and the walls are made of stacks of stones that slightly overlap each other creating a trapezoidal shape I like this connection because it reiterates the below world's association with death and I guess I'm an nihilist or something like that also after entering through the door the parakeet even mentioned that the world Beyond looks like paradise which links up these two references pretty well in my opinion and now we come to Birdman himself in Greek mythology herens were seen as Messengers for the gods which is sort of like the role Birdman man plays in the beginning of the movie he comes from the below world to lure mahito in so that the grand Uncle creator of the world can ask him to be his successor in Celtic mythology Heron symbolize the supernatural forces that exist between land and water which suggests they're being associated with a magical world different from our own just like Birdman shape shifters are everywhere in mythology especially ones that use their Supernatural powers to lure in unsuspecting victims and Gobble them down like maniacs there's even one specific to Japanese Legend called kitsun an immortal Fox that can transform into a human woman to learn an unsuspecting straight man but Birdman's inability to transform into any other animal along with his seeming dependence on his hair and skin to be intact reminds me more of selkis from Celtic mythology who can only transform into seals when in possession of their seal skin but there's a better explanation one that immediately struck me as an inspiration for Birdman when I first watched the movie he reminds me of the trickster a figure in most mythological pantheons whose motives and morals are sometimes hard to pin down they're sometimes mischievous sometimes just plain evil and sometimes kind or helpful but they're commonly shape shifters who like to cause trouble in some way take weisa kak from Korean Algonquin mythology for example or even dianis from Greek mythology but the one I like best is Loki in the actual Norse myths Loki was a shape shifter who often used his powers to create trouble for the gods but was also often the one that the gods called on to solve that trouble bringing to mind Birdman's great position in the story where he can quickly go from hurting mahito to helping him with little transition in between and finally the parakeet get ready for this one cuz it's a bombshell yeah these guys don't have any Mythic inspiration Miaki probably created them on crack and so we come to an end folks what did you think what do you like best about the movie know any other cool mythology connections leave them for me in the comments I have created the stack of stones that is this video and now you must add your own Stone but please don't imbue them with malice wow that metaphor worked better than I was expecting anyway thanks for watching and in a final note if any of you are interested in the mic I use to record this video I put a link to it in the description down below you can get it refurbished for super cheap so I think it's well worth looking into if you're a beginner YouTuber like me wanting to boost the quality of your videos and with that I'll see you later parakeets arir [Music]

Channel: Brainless Mastermind

Views: 6,382

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Id: uYG8GijqYaI

Length: 11min 4sec (664 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 15 2024