Club Ghibli #8 - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

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Diddy

Diddy

愛してるって 言わなきゃ殺す
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Time for a bit of time travel, all the way back to the beginning. It's dealer's choice today, and it's been a hot few months since we've got back to Proto-Ghibli, and I decided it was time to check out this stunning debutante.

Technically "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ("Kaze no Tani no Naushika") is still pre-Ghibli, but the gang was all here for this and Laputa (excuse my Spanish) so it's largely considered canon. It was the huge success of this film that lead the the establishment of the studio, and influenced many other creators in Japanese pop culture, including character design in Final Fantasy. Miyasaki is in the director's chair, with Takahata producing. What a dream team :disco:

The story takes us to a world divided by a historic military apocalypse, followed by a beatdown by Mother Nature, who is sick to the back teeth of these humans. The focus, however, is on Princess Nausicaä (the umlaut is silent) from the small Valley of the Wind. Can she prevent her secluded community from getting involved in international warfare? Destiny turns on a dime, so please enjoy her story.

Enjoy this rather :disco: trailer, with music that absolutely doesn't suit the actual film :D



HOW THIS WORKS

In a semi book club format, the films will be announced, and over the course of about 2 weeks we can watch it and let everyone know what we thought. I'll nominate someone to pick the next film each time, but maybe let's try not to blow all the famous ones first!

I was thinking 2 weeks should be enough time for most people to fit in a viewing at some point, but it's not strict so please come back when you have a chance, no pressure!
@Christian @Gangsta Nancy Lam @jivafox @COB @Haiku @ZenGiraffe @Lucille @KindaCool @Queen of the Bay @RaspberrySwirl @RJN @Beverley @big ron @ButterTart @Mats (let me know if you don't want to be tagged any more)
 
I think this is the most accomplished Ghibli film. If I wasn't a SOPPY SOD and favoured the more INTIMATE STUFF it'd be my favourite Ghibli film, it REALLY HAS IT ALL :disco:
 
I watched this as a SMALL CHILD and was TRAUMATISED FOR YEARS with the

final battle between the Giant Warrior and the Ohmu

It was PROPER MINDBLOWING STUFF how a cartoon could be so SCARY and EPIC.
 
Also, and at the risk of sounding like a wanker, this one REALLY, REALLY benefits from watching it on a cinema screen.

The BFI and the Prince Charles alternate showing this every year and I've been TWICE to see it as an adult which makes it my MOST WATCHED GHIBLI FILM EVER.
 
Oh and one more thing - the manga, drawn by Miyazaki, is DEBATABLY EVEN BETTER THAN THE FILM. It carries on from where the film ends and it takes the ecological themes even further, with Nausicaa being even MORE OF A BADASS if that's even P:disco:SSIBLE.
 
Haven't watched it yet with the San Remo saga going on every day and everything, but it's on my priority list along with the season finale of And Just Like That.
 
WELL. I will start by saying that I love Studio Ghibli, the hit-rate in their canon is unparalleled. But even with that said, Nausicaa is possibly the only film that has honestly changed the course of my life.

I didn't become a botanist or anything, but it's so spellbinding, and came at such a crucial time for me. It set my interest in Japan into warp-speed and I have never looked back. So spoiler alert, I gave it a 10. (PS oh god I didn't add a poll)

Anyway, with that said.

I LOVE the story. I can't say how many times I've seen it, but the pacing is just SO good - the core story is ALWAYS moving, but the action doesn't have to me at 100mph. The incredible dogfights are used sparingly - I'm sort of stunned that of course there are aircraft, but they are SO vividly realised; those huge warships existed alongside the sleek gunships and the simple gliders.

I LOVE Nausicaa and the fact that the female characters - her, gold arm lady, Obaba - are definitely the most charismatic and interesting. It's not making a big POINT of it either, it's just like that, and they fact that this a running theme in Ghibli movies - and not in a tacky commercial baiting way like Disney princesses - has always given me a lot of joy. The first 10-15 minutes paint such a rich picture of Nausicaa as brave, intuitive, fierce, but still a young girl, and I believe it totally.

I LOVE the music, I mean holy shit. Joe Hisaishi nailed it - another thing I love that is that the music is used quite sparsely. Long periods with just ambient sound like the wind. Or the section in Pejite where it's literally just a slow percussive rhythm. Incredible. The main theme and the child's la-la song are iconic and make me cry every time.

I LOVE the artistic concepts - the valley, the Ohmu (and other bugs), the giant warrior, the hidden area under the jungle - this film inspired the Chocobo for crying out loud, along with countless other influences in anime and manga. And the art direction, so many beautiful landscapes and shots - it reminded me of the film that came after it, Laputa.

I LOVE the themes - In Pom Poko we got the sort of sad resignation of nature against the humans, in Nausicaa it's totally the opposite - nature is terrifying and will kill us all, and we will deserve it. I mean! And the sort of subtext that nuclear weapons fucked it all up and the toxic topsoil is probably fallout, good lord.

So... yeah - the ONLY thing I THOUGHT bugged me was:
Nausicaa changes into red when she is smuggled out of the Pejite plane, but in the climax it's blue like the prophecy - I really thought that was a mistake, but while the film doesn't show it very clearly and the manga apparently does - it gets stained blue from the baby Ohmu blood. OMG

But I was wrong about that.

I don't really believe in choosing favourite films because it's such a broad medium - how can you compare this to a live-action comedy? Nonetheless, I think this is my favourite "serious" movie of all time.
 
That was a beautiful write-up Diddy and it resonated a lot with me, too. I think this is the most accomplished Ghibli film overall and I hope in due course it gets recognised as such because in the West it's normally Spirited Away or Mononoke if not that carry that weight.

Diddy said:
The first 10-15 minutes paint such a rich picture of Nausicaa as brave, intuitive, fierce, but still a young girl, and I believe it totally.
Click to expand...

The scene right at the beginning where

EVIL-EYED Teto bites Nausicaa in the finger but she just STANDS in there, quietly in her SERENITY, and he realises that she poses no threat and relents

is a MASTERCLASS in storytelling and it has helped me since in how to deal with animals.
 
Diddy said:
Btw since you’re here and you seem to know about the manga - is it worth it if you are familiar with the movie? I’d have thought the core story would have been spoiled?
Click to expand...

The film is about 1/3 of the manga! It ran until 1994 so there is a lot more LORE and the story carries on from the ending of the film significantly. If you like this film so much you should definitely seek it out, it's BEAUTIFUL to boot as well and another way of enjoying Miyazaki so I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you.
 
Peekaboo said:
That was a beautiful write-up Diddy and it resonated a lot with me, too. I think this is the most accomplished Ghibli film overall and I hope in due course it gets recognised as such because in the West it's normally Spirited Away or Mononoke if not that carry that weight.



The scene right at the beginning where

EVIL-EYED Teto bites Nausicaa in the finger but she just STANDS in there, quietly in her SERENITY, and he realises that she poses no threat and relents

is a MASTERCLASS in storytelling and it has helped me since in how to deal with animals.
Click to expand...

I appreciate that! Sometimes I think I’m just flapping my gums - I said to expect a hyperbolic write up but I honestly don’t feel like I exaggerated in the end.

Do you think Spirited away, Mononoke, Totoro etc get more attention because they are more Japanesey? I mean in the sense that there are cultural moments like folklore or ninja-like warriors that are what people imagine anime to be, and sort of reinforces that (positive) stereotype?

I mean I don’t hear the average joe saying “Oh I love Spirited away for the storytelling”, it’s usually “dragons and radish spirits and jumping heads bwaaaaa”

Now I think about it, Nausicaä is one of the least obviously-Japanese movies thematically in the canon
 
Peekaboo said:
The film is about 1/3 of the manga! It ran until 1994 so there is a lot more LORE and the story carries on from the ending of the film significantly. If you like this film so much you should definitely seek it out, it's BEAUTIFUL to boot as well and another way of enjoying Miyazaki so I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you.
Click to expand...

Oh that’s good news - I wasn’t sure if it was some sort of super condensed version of it or not, but that’s very interesting
 
Peekaboo said:
Is it just Diddy and me LOONING OUT in this thread for 20 messages?! :D

SOMEBODY ELSE WATCH IT, IT'S 200 X BETTER THAN THE CAT RETURNS!
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Deserved though, this is the hill I will die on. I’m sure @Queen of the Bay and @COB will hear our please (and rope @ZenGiraffe in too). Not sure which mod added the poll but they should get in here too.

Did @big ron get further than “ooh”??
 
Diddy said:
I appreciate that! Sometimes I think I’m just flapping my gums - I said to expect a hyperbolic write up but I honestly don’t feel like I exaggerated in the end.

Do you think Spirited away, Mononoke, Totoro etc get more attention because they are more Japanesey? I mean in the sense that there are cultural moments like folklore or ninja-like warriors that are what people imagine anime to be, and sort of reinforces that (positive) stereotype?

I mean I don’t hear the average joe saying “Oh I love Spirited away for the storytelling”, it’s usually “dragons and radish spirits and jumping heads bwaaaaa”

Now I think about it, Nausicaä is one of the least obviously-Japanese movies thematically in the canon
Click to expand...

I always class Nausicaa as a "sci-fi war film" so I think it suffers from perhaps being too grown-up for a mainstream "children's cartoon" (although I watched it really young and I was definitely ready for it) and too "childish" (because, you know, CARTOONS) for the type that would watch this sort of films.

I think its release was also mega-botched in the US originally because they recut it and changed the whole film, obviously FLOPPING HARD as a result and I think it took them nearly a DECADE to enjoy the original version. It was, however, VERY POPULAR in Spain and France in the 80s and 90s, as was Laputa. So perhaps it is a bit less well-known in the Anglo-Saxon sphere which unfortunately drives the discourse for Western pop culture relevancy.
 
Diddy said:
gold arm lady
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We STAN a BIONIC LADY :disco:

dzo7sz91mw471.jpg


In all seriousness, one thing that is present in most Miyazaki films is a BADDIE that isn't really a baddie JUST BECAUSE. Kushana is Nausicaa's antagonist but she has her own valid reasons and she is as devoted as Nausicaa is to helping her people (this is made even clearer in the manga btw). I like the shades of GREY in his characters, a million miles away from how BINARY characters in films aimed at kids sometimes are.
 
Peekaboo said:
We STAN a BIONIC LADY :disco:

dzo7sz91mw471.jpg


In all seriousness, one thing that is present in most Miyazaki films is a BADDIE that isn't really a baddie JUST BECAUSE. Kushana is Nausicaa's antagonist but she has her own valid reasons and she is as devoted as Nausicaa is to helping her people (this is made even clearer in the manga btw). I like the shades of GREY in his characters, a million miles away from how BINARY characters in films aimed at kids sometimes are.
Click to expand...

Yeah that’s such a great theme. Who even ARE the big bads? The Tolmekians I guess are aggressive and power hungry, but they turn out to be as afraid as anyone, the lead guy is just a sort of career soldier sort of apathetic even to his own ambitions.
Then there’s Ms. Bi-On-Ic, ruthless when necessary but ends up wanting to have a drink with Nausicaa.

In fact probably the lowest act really is by the Pejites starting the stampede, and that’s more out of desperation to avoid nuclear war.

I suppose regicide is a bit much though
 
I’ll see if I can rope Ron Jr into a watch this weekend. I need another lockdown (NOT REALLY BORIS)
 
I normally just hang out in the Eurovision forum on here but this is... it might be my favourite Ghibli movie but what it certainly is is the one that I've thought most about since seeing it. An incredibly important and thematically rich movie, from environmentalism, the striving of the main characters to co-exist with their world even as threats emerge. It also seems to analogise a lot of Japanese historical experience as well which is incredible to me, perfect for the time it was released and eventually giving rise to Ghibli as a whole.

Beautiful music and art too, great story, I think there's so much to love about this film and reading Diddy's post brought a lot of it back.
 
Eyes said:
I normally just hang out in the Eurovision forum on here but this is... it might be my favourite Ghibli movie but what it certainly is is the one that I've thought most about since seeing it. An incredibly important and thematically rich movie, from environmentalism, the striving of the main characters to co-exist with their world even as threats emerge. It also seems to analogise a lot of Japanese historical experience as well which is incredible to me, perfect for the time it was released and eventually giving rise to Ghibli as a whole.

Beautiful music and art too, great story, I think there's so much to love about this film and reading Diddy's post brought a lot of it back.
Click to expand...

Omg another fellow Ghiblet (I’m workshopping the name)!

I hope you can enjoy the other Ghibli threads in this series, it’s a lot more easygoing (and quieter :sour:) than the Eurovision forum!
 
Diddy said:
Omg another fellow Ghiblet (I’m workshopping the name)!
Click to expand...
Ghiblies? :redface:

Anyway this was another 10 for me, but I think it's not my favourite so far, cause that would be like saying some of my other 10s are weaker films and they are not.
Still there are a lot of elements in this one that I liked, I think Diddy described them better than I would have, but it is elements that are recurring in most ghibli films (the complexity of the bad guys, the fascinating old woman, the adorable pet, the goodness of the heroine, a hint of lesbianism etc). What I find very weird in all Ghibli films is their time-bending sorcery, cause they usually run for 2 hours but it never feels so long and then the film ends and you question how's that possible cause the hours have flown by like it was 30 mins. Especially in this one, where the ending comes so sudden and you are like "oh no, but what will happen next?", so I wholeheartedly appreciated that they have taken care of that feeling of being left out and you get to see what happens next in the ending titles. I think that was really thoughtful. But again this is a movie that I think is made for grown ups, cause I found some of the human cruelty scenes unsettling, and I believe I would have trouble dealing with it if I was a little child.

@Diddy
I couldn't understand how Nausicaa ended up in that blue dress at all either, I've only now read the explanation in your spoiler
 
Queen of the Bay said:
Ghiblies? :redface:

Anyway this was another 10 for me, but I think it's not my favourite so far, cause that would be like saying some of my other 10s are weaker films and they are not.
Still there are a lot of elements in this one that I liked, I think Diddy described them better than I would have, but it is elements that are recurring in most ghibli films (the complexity of the bad guys, the fascinating old woman, the adorable pet, the goodness of the heroine, a hint of lesbianism etc). What I find very weird in all Ghibli films is their time-bending sorcery, cause they usually run for 2 hours but it never feels so long and then the film ends and you question how's that possible cause the hours have flown by like it was 30 mins. Especially in this one, where the ending comes so sudden and you are like "oh no, but what will happen next?", so I wholeheartedly appreciated that they have taken care of that feeling of being left out and you get to see what happens next in the ending titles. I think that was really thoughtful. But again this is a movie that I think is made for grown ups, cause I found some of the human cruelty scenes unsettling, and I believe I would have trouble dealing with it if I was a little child.

@Diddy
I couldn't understand how Nausicaa ended up in that blue dress at all either, I've only now read the explanation in your spoiler
Click to expand...

Re: spoiler, I wonder if that was fans clutching at straws but I can’t imagine them making a mistake like that
 
Queen of the Bay said:
Ghiblies? :redface:

Anyway this was another 10 for me, but I think it's not my favourite so far, cause that would be like saying some of my other 10s are weaker films and they are not.
Still there are a lot of elements in this one that I liked, I think Diddy described them better than I would have, but it is elements that are recurring in most ghibli films (the complexity of the bad guys, the fascinating old woman, the adorable pet, the goodness of the heroine, a hint of lesbianism etc). What I find very weird in all Ghibli films is their time-bending sorcery, cause they usually run for 2 hours but it never feels so long and then the film ends and you question how's that possible cause the hours have flown by like it was 30 mins. Especially in this one, where the ending comes so sudden and you are like "oh no, but what will happen next?", so I wholeheartedly appreciated that they have taken care of that feeling of being left out and you get to see what happens next in the ending titles. I think that was really thoughtful. But again this is a movie that I think is made for grown ups, cause I found some of the human cruelty scenes unsettling, and I believe I would have trouble dealing with it if I was a little child.

@Diddy
I couldn't understand how Nausicaa ended up in that blue dress at all either, I've only now read the explanation in your spoiler
Click to expand...
In my experience, a lot of Japanese animation "for children" doesn't shy away from thematically complex stuff or even adult themes like violence or sex/nudity that would be an absolute no-no in the West. Have we done "Grave of the fireflies" here already? Because THAT is fucking HARROWING and it was shown as a DOUBLE BILL with Totoro so DEFINITELY with children in mind!

I don't think Miyazaki was necessarily thinking of a 6 year old when he made this film but he'd disagree that a child could not understand or deal with some of its topics.

For me the scariest thing as a child was the
giant God awakening
and IT'S MEANT TO BE SCARY! It's the climax of the film, and hardly AKIRA, you know.
 
Peekaboo said:
In my experience, a lot of Japanese animation "for children" doesn't shy away from thematically complex stuff or even adult themes like violence or sex/nudity that would be an absolute no-no in the West. Have we done "Grave of the fireflies" here already? Because THAT is fucking HARROWING and it was shown as a DOUBLE BILL with Totoro so DEFINITELY with children in mind!

I don't think Miyazaki was necessarily thinking of a 6 year old when he made this film but he'd disagree that a child could not understand or deal with some of its topics.

For me the scariest thing as a child was the
giant God awakening
and IT'S MEANT TO BE SCARY! It's the climax of the film, and hardly AKIRA, you know.
Click to expand...

It’s interesting how the west thinks this is such a wild concept too. And it ISN’T always (traumatised by 1970s Watership Down), but it’s certainly quite rare.

Pixar have spent the last 10 years making grown men cry as though:
a) there’s anything wrong with crying at a movie
b) they are the first studio to think of it
 
Oh no the old man’s wife ded :( share if u cry every time

Meanwhile I’m watching a child holding on to their mum’s radiation-poisoned corpse until maggots start falling out of it
 
I was thinking more about the scenes where
little Nausicaa hides the baby so that they won't kill it and then they ignore her and take the baby, or the scene where the baby is not only being used as a bait, but has been also sadistically tortured, I mean did it really have to be stubbed to almost the point of death poor baby :redface:
 
Queen of the Bay said:
I was thinking more about the scenes where
little Nausicaa hides the baby so that they won't kill it and then they ignore her and take the baby, or the scene where the baby is not only being used as a bait, but has been also sadistically tortured, I mean did it really have to be stubbed to almost the point of death poor baby :redface:
Click to expand...

Well it all worked out in the end, she got her blue dress!

That young Nausicaa scene was so well done, that real sort of exaggerated memory feeling. Sitting on her father’s lap, who seems like a giant, the different drawing style too. Uhh!!!!
 
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