Soulfully exploring thought-provoking themes through a beautifully animated lens, The Boy and the Heron is another Hayao Miyazaki masterpiece from a man who most people thought was done a decade ago. It’s a mesmerizing fable that feels even more like a summary of an artist’s career.
It’s a film that somehow plays as both a child’s heroic journey and an old man’s wistful goodbye at the same time, a dream-like vision that reasserts Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s voice and international relevance. It’s gorgeous, ruminative and mesmerizing, one of the best of 2023.
Revered animator and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki came out of retirement to make the film, and it’s arguably one of his most personal.
After losing his mother during the war, young Mahito moves to his family's estate in the countryside. There, a series of mysterious events lead him to a secluded and ancient tower, home to a mischievous grey heron.
When Mahito's new stepmother disappears, he follows the heron into the tower, and enters a fantastic world shared by the living and the dead. As he embarks on an epic journey with the heron as his guide, Mahito must uncover the secrets of this world, and the truth about himself.
The Boy and the Heron is a strikingly beautiful, densely detailed fantasy that revisits themes and devices familiar from previous films and ties them together with elements that have a clear autobiographical resonance for the director. The dream logic of the narrative seems to have been born from the untrammelled imagination of a child rather than that of a man in his 80s.
If this really is Miyazaki’s final word, then it’s a conclusion worthy of his legacy. At the same time, his imagination remains so vast, it feels like he could keep creating forever. The Boy and the Heron explores the emotions of a young boy as he navigates a new world and emotions. It shows us that there is always room to grow, learn, face the horror and come back to reality with a whole new perspective of the world.
The Boy and the Heron, rated PG, plays at the Patricia Theatre in Powell River from January 26 to 30 at 7 pm, with a matinee on Sunday, January 28, at 1:30 pm. Running time is two hours and four minutes.
Gary Shilling is executive director of qathet Film Society.
Join the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
