How Do You Live Without Miyazaki?
Film
Here I am, in my seventh or so year of working professionally, dreaming of retiring. Assuming retirement opens the door to doing anything and everything I want to do all the time. Watch a 2 PM matinee on a Tuesday? Sure! Watch a 1:30 PM matinee on a Wednesday!? Oh, how daring!
Meanwhile, acclaimed Writer/Director Hayao Miyazaki has retired two or three times now and keeps coming back. Ten years ago he released his film The Wind Rises as his final piece. Now he's back with another finale, The Boy and the Heron.
We should consider ourselves lucky that a master animator and storyteller like Miyazaki keeps on returning with wildly new and original films. Even with a completely loaded filmography full of undeniable classics such as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and more, his latest feels bigger yet.
Spoilers aplenty
The Boy and the Heron follows Mahito (Soma Santoki in Japanese, Luca Padovan in English) a young boy grieving the loss of his mother in a Tokyo firebombing. His father Shoichi (Takuya Kimura in Japanese, Christian Bale in English) relocates the family to a rural estate outside the city. There they will join Shoichi's new pregnant wife, the sister of his late wife, Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura in Japanese, Gemma Chan in English). After a strange grey heron begins interacting with Mahito, he finds himself and an elderly housekeeper Kiriko (Kô Shibasaki in Japanese, Florence Pugh in English) traveling to a strange fantasy world. Shared by the living and the dead, along with some strange animals, the world forces Mahito to reckon with his grief.
Miyazaki always infuses his personal history into his films. Orchestrating a lovely combination of whatever beautiful fantasy world we're transported to and the emotional ebbs and flows of the human experience. Yet, The Boy and the Heron stands above his other projects as something much more personal. At its core, the film is an extended allegory to Miyazaki's difficult grieving process over the loss of his mother, poured into the story of a young boy. Mahito's indifference, and sometimes coldness, towards Natsuko is evidence that he's not quite at a point in his process of fully accepting a new mother figure in his life. But what's often lost in our own emotional state is that of others. Natsuko is also grieving the loss of her sister and grappling with the fact that Mahito, a constant reminder of her, is apathetic at best towards the new marriage to Shoichi.
The fantastical voyage Mahito goes on reunites him with a younger version of his mother, Himi (Aimyon in Japanese, Karen Fukuhara in English). This world exists outside of time and space, which is the reasoning behind Mahito's mother remaining in her child state for so long. Through their journey together, Mahito can finally achieve the closure he needed so badly. Not to mention, he's able to understand that as a young boy, he needs a mother figure in his life. Someone like Natsuko who loves him unconditionally and is willing to fill in that maternal role.
But of course Miyazaki wouldn't just leave the film as simple as that. Instead, he layers on a gorgeous piece on accepting the world around us, because it's the only one we have. In this fantasy world, Mahito travels to, he finds his great grand uncle (Shohei Hino in Japanese, Mark Hamill in English) who created it all years ago. He's aged over time and is looking for someone to take his stead, asking Mahito to replace him. Mahito's great grand uncle even goes so far as to offer Mahito the ability to create a brand new world, free of evil or malice.
The beauty of The Boy and the Heron is in Mahito's refusal. He could accept this offer and create a perfect world, with his mother in it, spending a lifetime with the person he cares so much about. Instead, Mahito understands that he himself holds an amount of malice that would infect this perfect world. Nobody is perfect and no world can be perfect because of it. But the real world, even with its flaws, is the only one where his mother truly lived, and loved. Mahito couldn't possibly give that up, even for the temptation of a fantasy.
Similarly, this theme serves another purpose. One where Miyazaki himself represents the great grand uncle, searching for someone to take up his mantle at Studio Ghibli. He's aged, retired multiple times, and is questioning who will stand up when he's finally retired for good. With all the beautiful worlds and characters he's created, who will be the next animation master?
But Miyazaki isn't asking who will be the next me, instead, he urges us to use all of the beauty, creativity, and personal experiences we possess to live our lives. To be ourselves. To love, lose, grieve, rejoice, and fully experience the wildly chaotic human experience that is at the core of all Miyazaki films.
The Boy and the Heron is another Miyazaki masterpiece, something we've come to expect every time he comes out with a new film. The patented Studio Ghibli style keeps the material light, fun, and downright gorgeous. Combined with Joe Hisaishi's astounding score, you can't help but be transported to a world of giant parakeets, pelicans, and the ever-lasting love of a boy and his mother.
Froth
Not only is The Boy and the Heron a visual feast, but the heavy/mature themes are buoyed by the usual Miyazaki flare that keeps you invested. So it only makes sense to have a beer that's light, fresh, and downright delicious. As an added bonus, you may as well go with a brewery with a heron as the logo for some thematic continuity, aka Fremont Brewing! The Golden Pilsner is a classic beer choice in Seattle and any time you have an opportunity to sample this nectar of the gods, take it. Easy to drink, light and refreshing, the Golden Pilsner is also a massive awards player in the beer circuit, taking home the Gold in the 2023 World Beer Championship. Swinging a cool 4.5% ABV, it also has a slight Czech style to it from some delightful Czech Saas hops.
I could drink this in summer. I could drink it in winter, I'll drink the Golden Pilsner for as long as Fremont Brewing will continue to pour it for me!
