People can write a lot of nice words about Hayao Miyazaki’s animations, so I won’t go into details. However, after watching most of Gong Lao's animated films, I am very interested in the discussion of the relationship between man and nature revealed in his films. This cannot be explained clearly by simply promoting environmental protection. This film review focuses on the view of nature expressed in Hayao Miyazaki's films.
This must start with Hayao Miyazaki's first film "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind". The film version of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind leaves a strong impression on people because it has a complete and unique world view. In the movie version, the theme is the contradiction between man and nature. As the representative of nature, the King Insect, the Sea of ??Corruption, appears to be terrifying and deadly, but in fact it is the purifier of this destroyed world. And the humans who are enemies of it are destroyers. But in the background of the comic version, the king insects, fungi, everything in the Sea of ??Corruption and even humans themselves are all man-made, and they are the last man-made things before the world is destroyed by the Titan Soldier.
Compared with the complicated and difficult-to-understand series of questions in the comic version, the animated version is easier to understand. In the movie, the conflict between man and king insect is like the conflict between man and nature. "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" seems to be Hayao Miyazaki's only super-future-themed film. Later, more animations were mythological. In "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind", the director tried to express the many things that an individual's beautiful soul can change. The way to get along with nature should be respect and patience.
In another important animation "Princess Mononoke" not long after, the topic of man and nature once again became the theme. This movie can be said to be the most special of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. There are few warm and healing scenes and stories in "Princess Mononoke". Instead, it throws a heavy story and ending to the audience.
"Princess Mononoke" is a neutral movie. This movie seeks a balance like a scale. The relationship between birds and Princess Mononoke, the Qilin Beast that is also in charge of life and death, bows, arrows, spears and gunpowder, each pair of opposite things are actually in a delicate state of balance. However, the human beings who tried to break this balance in the film infinitely let the "death" side of the Qilin beast explode, causing all life on the earth to be devastated.
In this movie, the gods are the embodiment of nature, and they vividly embody the characteristics of nature in the movie - absolute neutrality and terrifying counterattack after destruction. The same is true of the ending of "Princess Mononoke". The two protagonists are not together, but continue to lead the forces they represent, the forest and humans, each looking for a correct path. This film is the most complex and obscure of Hayao Miyazaki's films. The humanistic thoughts he tried to express in the film are not available in all subsequent Miyazaki animations, or in other words, they do not have the depth that this film has achieved.
"Spirited Away" is Hayao Miyazaki's best animation in my eyes. This animation is considered the pinnacle of Hayao Miyazaki's work, and it perfectly combines plot, style, and metaphors.
"Spirited Away" is a relatively popular movie. And it contains all the advantages of Hayao Miyazaki - refined and beautiful painting style, warm and intelligent story, well-made animation, and infectious humanistic thoughts. Miyazaki's concerns about environmental pollution are also expressed in the film, but this does not exist as a theme. The theme of "Spirited Away" is not single.
In the final analysis, "Spirited Away" is a movie about growth and change. Growth is not just about the protagonist himself, but the many characters in the film: White Dragon, Faceless Man, Baobao , other little monsters, in this story, we can all feel their growth and inner changes. "Spirited Away" makes people yearn for kind and warm souls, but it goes beyond that. The story of Chihiro also tells us that while we continue to grow, we must not forget our true nature. Just like those people under Yubaba who forgot their names, they ended up becoming gear parts. Chihiro and Bailong, who finally recovered their names, also recovered precious memories of their encounters.