My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro was some of the cutest animation I've seen in a long time. I can't decide which of these is cuter: The small Totoro, the medium Totoro, Big Totoro, Mei, or the theme song (which I still can't help but be amused by).

Aside from the cuteness of the film, four things about My Neighbor Totoro struck me.

1. The film's similarities to Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies. I was a bit surprised at the short span of Totoro-- the film takes place over a relatively short time period and scope, especially in relation to epic-scale films like Nausicaa and Castle in the Sky. But both Totoro and Fireflies featured the exploits of two children and the struggles they faced because of extenuating circumstances that included absent parents. The scene of Satsuki running to try to save Mei when she thinks she has drowned is similar to Seita's struggles to provide food for Setsuko in Fireflies. The mother's hospitalization was a powerful part of both films. And, both were (at least somewhat) autobiographical (though not necessarily for the films' respective directors). It makes sense that the two films were released on the same bill-- but until I saw Totoro, I didn't know just how fitting that choice apparently was.

2. Miyazaki's skill in portraying children's behavior. It is uncanny (no relation to Todorov intended) how accurately Mei and Satsuki (and even Kanta) resemble kids I've known, or even myself as a child. They are beautifully animated and believable, from their motivations to their actions.

3. Big Totoro apparently uses technology (the spinning top) to fly. I found this a bit odd, since he and the smaller Totoro-folk seem to be all about nature otherwise. But, this may be a misperception-- maybe the spinning top is merely magical, or has significance in a context I don't know about.

4. Catbus > Batmobile.

Castle in the Sky

After seeing Castle in the Sky, I'm convinced the creators of Skies of Arcadia were Miyazaki fans.

From the architecture to the ship designs to the characters, and even the themes (to a certain extent), there are plenty of similarities between the film and the game.

Even Dola (Castle in the Sky) and Aika (Skies) are rather similar, at least in terms of their hair:

And more uncannily, Dr. Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog looks like the Old Engineer in Castle in the Sky. No relation to Skies except that both games were made by Sega (albeit different divisions).

Also, the funny thing about the final showdown in Castle in the Sky is that neither Pazu nor Muska have any live ammunition in their weapons. Pazu only had two shells and spent both, and Muska shows that he's used up all of the bullets in his gun when he reloads it. They're both bluffing. The real power-- Sheeta's crystal-- is concealed.

Nausicaa, Freud, Nature and Technology

Due to the question posed by Professor Cohen and the subsequent discussion about nature and technology on Thursday, I began thinking about the idea that, out of the three races in Nausicaa, there is no "nature representative." I think this connects to the Freud reading we looked at a little while ago as well.

The Tolmekians are clearly metal, robotic, technological fiends. They represent the idea (as someone said, I think) that the world can be saved through technology. Their M.O. is to burn, shoot, and destroy everything that stands in their way. And of course, the Tolmekians are the antagonists and villains in Nausicaa. So, through the Tolmekians, Miyazaki is apparently saying that the purely technological path is the wrong one. "Complete industrialization leads to foolhardiness," Miyazaki seems to say.

The Pejiteians are strange guerilla characters, somewhere between the Valley of the Wind dwellers and the Tolmekians, as people have pointed out. But on the whole, I think they, like the Tolmekians, rely on technology more than nature. The image of the lone Pejiteian gunship inexplicably wreaking havoc against the bulky Tolmekian ships and forces is emblematic of the Pejiteians in my mind (and, as a side note, similar to the respective damage dealt by Vyse's group on the Valuans in the previously-mentioned Skies of Arcadia or the Animorphs' attacks on the Yeerks in K. A. Applegate's book series Animorphs).

I think that the strange and interesting thing about the Valley of the Wind dwellers is that they are not purely nature representatives. It is true that they use wind, a natural source of energy. But the VW dwellers have flamethrowers, weapons, and ships (both of which imply some type of forging, i.e. fire). As pointed out, even Nausicaa, the most peaceful and arguably the lowest-tech character in the film, wears gunpowder shells in her uniform. The VW dwellers aren't purely peaceful, happy-go-lucky farmers and laborers. Rather, it seems they have the proper perspective of integrating nature with technology in a less destructive way. Their philosophy is that a little fire is useful while too much is dangerous.

Through the VW dwellers, I think that Miyazaki is saying that a view that entirely eschews technology is no less dangerous or foolhardy as one that embraces it wholly. Even Nausicaa relies on technology (deadly technology, even) to aid her in the end of the film-- she fires an automatic weapon at the two Pejitean guys and boards their flying vessel. However, she doesn't kill anyone, either. She has the proper perspective of integration, which in the end saves the world.

Miyazaki's message seems to be at odds with Freud's theory that animism leads to religion, which leads to a scientific perspective. In Nausicaa, the Valley dwellers seem to have properly integrated all three of these supposed 'stages' into one whole. They are, I would argue, animistic-- they recognize the soul and value of the earth. They are religious-- they believe in prophecy and one or more Gods-- Nausicaa prays at at least two points in the film. And they have technology, as has been thoroughly pointed out, which Nausicaa also highlights by her culturing of plants in her secret hideout.

Nausicaa

I had never seen Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind until yesterday. It was awesome.

I like the evocative worlds Miyazaki creates in his films. In Nausicaa, the world reminded me of that of Skies of Arcadia, which I played profusely when I was younger. The Tolmekian airships reminded me of the gigantic Valuan Battleships in that game.



One thing that I've noticed thus far about Miyazaki's films is that although they can be predictable to a certain extent, they still manage to be original in the way they're executed. For instance, in Nausicaa, I expected the apocalyptic climax and resurrection at the end, and they happened.

I think that there's an important lesson for artists here. As I've learned in other film classes and in my own experience, there's only so many themes that can be expressed through art. The question is how we do it.

Welcome

This is my blog for Film 151 (Miyazaki), Spring 2010, at UC Berkeley. I hope my thoughts during this class are coherent and relevant, and hopefully they'll make for good reading as well. Have a blessed day.