And, to get it all started… ( i don't expect ya'll to get around to this until lthis evening/weekned, or in anywhere near this depth.)
Spoilers ahead.
Nausicaa: The Valley of the Wind
Streaming at 3:00 Saturday: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Galaxy9000 (thanks Galaxy 9000)
Running site: http://anilinkz.com/nausicaa-of-the-valley-of-the-wind
Torrent: http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5664076/Studio_Ghibli_Collection_[jap-eng_audio]eng-sub[Mkv]
Released in 1984, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on his 1982 manga of the same name. Isao Takahata produced the film for Tokuma Shoten and Hakuhodo, and Top Craft animated the film. Joe Hisaishi provided the music, as he would continue t do for pretty much every Miyazaki film that followed.
The manga was not finished at the time of the movie's released, (And would not finish until 94) so the film roughly corresponds to only the first quarter of the manga, with significant differences in plot.
The film was released by Toei Company on March 11, 1984, and sold almost a million tickets.
Sometime in the late 80's, it was edited and dubbed for English release as "Warriors of the Wind" and… the less said about that, the better.
The flying glider scene would later be "influential" for a flying sequence in The Rescuers Down Under.
Nausicaä is frequently ranked among the best animated films in Japan and is seen as a seminal influence on the development of anime, as the film's success lead to the foundation of Studio Ghibli and several other anime studios. Nausicaa has consistently been in the top 10 anime heroines in various magazines.. pretty much since the movie came out. (Nadia from Secret of Blue Water is another long runner.)
My personal history with the movie
[hide]I first saw Nausicaa as part of an anime club in probably 1999 or 2000, I had already seen Mononoke at the time, and probably Cagliostro, and was looking forward to it. And when we saw it, well… I didn't care for it. Maybe it was the small tv, or sitting on the floor, or bad subtitles or the audience... (but it was definitely prior to the commercial Disney release) but it was bored and the only thing I remembered taking away from it was the color error error of Nausica's dress changing color and the "la la la" song. (This same club has problems with anything long and slow paced and quiet, such as the Gundam movies or Harlock. It was an environment much better suited to short action packed or comedy episodes of shows than movies in general.)
But people at my workplace sung its praises as really great, and the fandom always hails it as great, and I've looked at and studied the artbooks and have basically looked at the movie scene by scene in stills, and listened to the soundtrack, (I got many of the ghibli soundtracks cheap at a con) so I tried to write it off as just a bad viewing experience. When Turner Classic Movies aired it (along with a bunch of other Ghibli films for a week) I... managed to miss it. When Cartoon Network played it (dubbed obviously) I... fell asleep about 10 minutes in. Presumably I was tired and comfortable in bed. i actually bought the movie at some point along with the other ghibli films that came out at the same time around 2005 (Disney released them three at a time) and I tried again to watch it another time on a sick day and... again failed to get through it.
I have since read the manga and while I don't love it, I can see and appreciate the masterwork that it is. I wonder if its a situation like the Godfather where I can appreciate the art, but not love it? It's a shame if its the case, since as near as I can tell, I really SHOULD love this movie. And despite owning it, its just sort of sat on my shelf and I've never really given it a fair rewatch where I was neither sick or sleepy. I have forgotten most of the details, and even the manga is a bit of a blur now, and how the movie differs from the manga. This is for all intents and purposes, my first time watching it... though in the back of my head there's this feeling of "it's that classic that was slowly paced that just isn't for me"... and I'm sure a lot of it will feel familiar as it comes along.
Out of all the movies in the ghibli rewatch, this is the one I'm most curious about to see how I take it... neat that its the first one.[/hide]
My watching the movie
[hide]
Wow. I really have let EVERYTHING about the movie fade from memory. I remembered little bits, mostly from my manga read a couple years ago, but I'd forgotten pretty much EVERYTHING. Aside from a couple details, it was basically a brand new movie to me.
I'm really glad I FINALLY gave this another proper chance. If nothing else comes out of this rewatch, at least Nausicaa is no longer "that movie that's just there" for me. This time, watching it on a good screen and on my own in a comfortable chair, I enjoyed it and wasn't bored by it. It had a lot to offer and I appreciated it all this time around… but I still didn't love the movie though.
From the very opening scene where it showcases the destruction of the spores and then the blazing fires of the giants, the crunching sounds, the skull enveloped in spores, walking out of a giant's head, and the music that plays there and the opening credits.... it sets a mood and a tone... that is almost immediately broken by Nausicaa's innocence and charm. her voice is quite cute and endearing almost instantly, combined with her excitement of playing in the spore snow, and of course the classic "animals love her" thing that goes back to Snow White sets her up quite well in just the first couple minutes. She really doesn't belong in the harsh world, and thats so close together its blatantly intentional and its an amazing bit of character to establish within... 5 minutes?
It also makes it a markedly different contrast whenever Nausicaa gets angry and violent, (like over the death of her father) to see the gentle girl turn into a battling sword slinging force of nature. And then shortly after her complete refusal to want to ever kill again... Its a very interesting dynamic.
That moment where Yupa blocks the sword with his arm... super badass. The later scene where Yupa fights a whole bunch of guys by himself? Badass. He was cool in general though he didn't get much screentime in the movie.
All the stuff with the glider was really cool. Its pretty clear why Disney uh..."homaged" it in their later stuff.The early part where its just for fun, and the later where it's involved in some actioney chase sequences, all the flying stuff is cool.
The world building and designs are fantastic, just the sheer amount of thought that went into the poison, the trees, the healing ecosystem, the chocobos, the windmills, the airships, the tanks, the crazy beards, the clothing and armor designs in general, its all good.
That score by Joe Hisashi! No wonder Miyzaki has used him for everything since. The la la la la la theme for the flashbacks/ohmu theme is permanently ingrained into my brain, thats something that stuck with me even thirteen years ago, and I've been humming it all week since we decided to do this rewatch.
This time around I noted what my anime club totally failed to note all those years ago with Nausicaa's "magical color changing dress". Its not that it suddenly changes color, its that it's soaked in Ohmu blood. A subtle, but fast detail... and a rather important one considering the legend/prophecy set up about the "one in blue."
Minor art note, not a flaw, but I noted it anyway... You can tell its an early Ghibli movie because their painted clouds kind of suck. They get the job done, but nowhere near as good as skies as they'll achieve in later films. Its something that stuck out to me.
All in all...?
I definitely liked it better than I did thirteen years ago at an unresponsive anime meeting and glad I finally gave it a proper new chance... I can stop writing it off as "eh" or as "that film that's just not for me that everyone else likes for some reason." I can see what it has to offer. But... I didn't really super love it either. It's interesting because it brings to bear a lot of things that Miyazaki will use constantly, like the selfless heroine, or the bumbling assistant to the not-quite-evil female villain... and a LOT of the messages of revenge and the environment and a lot of the character types and goals, and even tone, hew very close to what Mononoke would bring to the plate 20 years later.
I've read the manga (though a lot of the details elude me by now) and it certainly had the benefit of a LOT more time to play with. In the movie Nausicaa was a completely faultless super nice Jesus figure basically, right down to the deus ex machina revival at the end, whereas in the manga she gets a lot more growth and shades of grey, and you see the actual conflicts of war carried out, and the villains have a lot more nuance, while here they're jsut kinda... evil cause they want power and stuff.. The manga is definitely the superior story.
But even the manga's expanded story considered, I... just don't know. The final third of the movie is pretty strong, if overtly emotionally manipulative, including scenes such as Kushana’s explanation of her hatred of the insects, the torture of the baby ohmu, and Nausicaa’s martyrdom. Some great moments in there, and I feel for Nausicaa, but... The film also creates a story in which the only possible resolution comes from a literal miracle out of the blue instead of from a logical continuation of the linear story. The ending bothers me. I don't mind the hero living even after much sacrifice, or even THE sacrifice if its set up right, but it just feels like a cheat, given that the Ohmu had no signs of healing powers prior to the end... attuned to nature, sure. But healing powers?
I really should love this movie. By all rights, I should love it. Its got action, and great animation (even dated as it is, its still pretty damn solid) a likeable main protagonist, some sword fighting, great music, an interesting world, and nearly everything that I absolutely love in Mononoke is present here in some form... and it was here first. is it possible I'd like this movie more if I HADN'T seen Mononoke first, or if I'd grown up on it, not already seen stuff that came after which it influenced? I don't THINK that's the reason, since other Ghibli films with overlap don't bother me, and I've seen and loved Mononoke a dozen a times.
For some reason, even now it just can't quite hold my complete rapt attention the way some of the other movies do. I don't know if its because it lacks any comedy warm moments, or if the moments of wonder and beauty just go right past me, (There's the bit with the "snow" near the start, and the moment underground, but not much else... though the bizarre poison gorwths are neat looking... or maybe I just like forests more)or if its because Nausicaa is the only truly developed character while everyone else is a brief walk on participant, but... there's something there that just doesn't work for me, and I can't place what it is.
I figure this'll get talked about more when we get to Mononoke in a few months, cause there's a lot of overlap.
Really curious to see what everyone else thinks. If anyone else gets similar vibes maybe they can help me figure out what rubs me the wrong way, or point out highlights that I failed to grok... and such. [/hide]
Overall, it was good, has the qualities of a great movie, and the manga fixes most of its flaws, but doesn't quite click for me.