THE BOY AND THE HERON is a MASTERPIECE (NO SPOILERS!)

[Music] how do you live to approach any work from a great Master comes with a degree of loaded expectation there's the work itself The Familiar brush Strokes the typical signatures the frequent collaborators there's the reputation both the one personally cultivated the way it may play with other works from a given filmmaker and of course no film exists in a vacuum which must be taken into account yet it seems with increasing frequency the most essential question of any criticism or viewership for that matter so often distills rather than to a coarse cinematic element to one achingly insufficient quantry what is the film about the boy and the Heron the new film from deeply beloved animation Maestro hayo Miyazaki whose a claim is on part with any great filmmaker living or dead of course then comes with not only the anticipation a 10-year Gap in between this and his last work the immaculate The Wind Rises would create but every expectation that we have held to the great makers of this medium what are the aesthetic qualities of the work I.E what does it look like how will it be perceived what impact is it making in the world or for the world and of course with such maddening simplicity what is it about what does it mean now having at last seen this new film well after its Premiere I must add the main thing I am still feeling is still first what a privilege it is to even be able to see yet another beautifully created vibrantly expressed stirring meditation on life and death from this master of of Cinema the boy and the Heron is another grand tapestry within a filmography that did not even really need further addition to be considered one of the greatest in cinema and yet here we are with one more wonderful film I don't think I'm being superlative or over aggrandizing to say we should be grateful simply that Miaki made anything more at all and that this is what was made that the boy and the Heron is that film is all the more of a pleasure though privilege aside there is still a film to consider and objectivity to remain right what of that probably useless question what then is the boy and the Heron about I should say at first glance I can fully understand how an answer may be difficult to find this film is dense and widespread it engages in a number of metaphors narrative threads and Concepts all of which shift and change on top of themselves throughout the film I can't say I necessarily recommend the film for someone unfamiliar with with the work of hayomi isaki and now perhaps that is a valid criticism uh of a film should not a film work in isolation without any other connection uh perhaps yet if we really look into what makes this film dense the boy and the Heron it will reveal a wealth that only grows richer in context because we've seen other films from this filmmaker not only does this film become stronger deeper greater we can we can understand it in a grander way furthermore in that spirit I found the boy and the Heron Al be a dense deeply moving and in that sense I suppose an answer to that question what is the film about does come and comes then as yet another question how do you live the question into statement for one the the first thing to do is to remove the notion of plot plot is not what he's playing with instead shering structure in favor of feeling yes this is a story it's a story of a boy that is trying to answer that great question trying to find some reason yet this is an emotive experience first and foremost and it ought to be met that way as well how do you live how does one live in one sense this is a scientific religious question from where came existence or maybe from what what are our building blocks what is our sustenance how are these worlds this world yet there is another version of that question and one perhaps even more vital we know the worlds are even if we know not how which means the only how that remains is how do we live in them how can we choose to stay in a world of inevitable and perpet rual Decay how do you live there are a lot of Dark Places that Miyazaki goes to in this film death depression grief this is an uncomfortable film as well with much of its metaphors built in expressively yet vividly and beautifully drawn visions of Decay and death yet paradoxically in the way only Miyazaki can often in those very same images comes so much dedication to the world that is for all the worlds he has created rendered in medium so powerfully removed from our own animation Miyazaki to the end has found himself unable to leave us behind he comes back to us again and again and now he has come back to us once more possibly for the last time offering us one simple question as Solace how do you live we [Music] do

Channel: Parker Gehring

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Id: ysMbbDr_i1U

Length: 6min 26sec (386 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 19 2023