Review: The Boy and the Heron
How do you live? That is the question Hayao Miyazaki asks us for his latest “final” animated film The Boy and the Heron.
Inspired by the novel How Do You Live?, the newest Studio Ghibli film centers around a young boy who, along with his father, moves to the countryside after a terrible tragedy strikes the family. Once he tries to settle in though, the boy runs across a peculiar heron who invites him into another world to reconnect to his past and find new meaning to life.
Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli in general has built up a HUGE following over the years, enchanting audiences with its breath-taking animation and some interpersonal stories. Me personally I haven’t seen EVERY Ghibli film, but I have seen most of Miyazaki’s films and he’s been pretty hit-or-miss for me as a filmmaker; at best his films are absolute masterpieces, but at worst his films are more mediocre and forgettable (which I guess says a lot about how talented of a filmmaker he is.)
Unfortunately Miyazaki’s latest outing falls around the latter category for me; The Boy and the Heron boasts a lot of fantastic elements I love in other Miyazaki films that I wish were organized better in a more focused film.
Given the subject matter, this is clearly a personal topic for Miyazaki; the film revolves around the concept of mortality and reflecting on how one lives their life (hence the original title How Do You Live?) My issue lies in the way Miyazaki chose to convey those themes; he introduces a lot of subplots and characters that ultimately gets in the way of the overall flow of the story, making the end result feel disjointed.
The main character is also not very interesting; sure I know the kid is dealing with grief, but I would’ve love to see how this kid was before his trauma occurred, that way his character arc would be more relatable and earned. The film introduces a ton of colorful characters, with some of them impeccably designed in a way only Miyazaki can come up with, but most of these characters serve no real point to the narrative outside of padding up the runtime.
One moment you see our protagonist venturing deeper down this Purgatory-esque world searching for a loved one, the next you see him feeding a bunch of sentient marshmallows fish guts to help them fly. Sure that’s a neat little scene and I get the purpose of the scene, but it never gets brought up again for the rest of the film.
At least the animation is on par with the rest of Miyazaki’s filmography; it’s incredibly refreshing to see traditional hand-drawn animation in a market saturated with CG-animation. The original score is also pretty great, making the story feel much grander than it actually is. As I mentioned earlier, I also love the designs of some of the side characters, helping the film leave a memorable impression long after I seen it. These elements make this a worthwhile film to check out, but they’re also elements that I love in previous Miyazaki films that also boast a focused story and a memorable protagonist.
Overall this is a Ghibli movie for the Ghibli fans; people who already love Studio Ghibli will have no issues loving this film as well. If you’re new to the world of Hayao Miyazaki then I strongly suggest you start off with the filmmaker’s previous classics like My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away before making your way to his more ambitious outings like this film to see if this guy is your cup of tea. As it stands though I’m glad this is no longer Miyazaki’s final film, cause if it is it would’ve been a pretty underwhelming finale to a prolific career.
Final Verdict: 6/10