Pete's Log: The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか)
Entry #2450, (Movies)(posted when I was 45 years old.)
Jamie and I watched The Boy and the Heron at the La Grange Theater today. It is the latest film by Hayao Miyazaki. We both went in knowing little about the film. If you enjoy the experience of seeing a movie without knowing what it's about and you also enjoy Miyazaki movies, then I would suggest you go see it and stop reading this.
At the start of the film, it felt like on the spectrum of Miyazaki movies it might trend towards the less fantastical. It takes place in wartime Japan and it seems like it might just be about a boy who loses his mother and has to come to terms with a new step mother.
There is a grey heron living near their new home, and the first time I saw that the heron had teeth is when I started thinking it might get weird. And boy did it get weird. Unlike the weirdness of Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away, I don't really understand the weirdness of this movie. I'm torn between wanting to read up on what (if anything) it all means, or just letting the experience be what it was.
The art was beautiful. The soundtrack was minimalist but fitting. I'm glad I saw it but I don't know if I'd see it again, and generally Miyazaki films have high rewatchability for me.
We did catch it in Japanese with English subtitles. So I can't comment on the English voice cast.