THE BOY AND THE HERON (2023)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *good*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, psychological*                                                                                                                       The paucity of Hayao Miyazaki films I've reviewed on this site might make this conclusion obvious, but I'll state it outright: despite my abiding appreciation for Japanese anime, I've never liked that many Miyazaki projects. Maybe I'll get into the reasons for my comparative disinterest if I get around to reviewing more of his works someday-- or even the one work that I really did like, the 2001 SPIRITED AWAY.                                                                                                                                                                                      As it happens, though I haven't got round to SPIRITED AWAY, Miyazaki's THE BOY AND THE HERON-- which he initiated some time after having announced his retirement-- has a lot of similarities to SPIRITED. Both films concern kids of roughly middle-school age who are thrust into magical otherworlds where, through sheer persistence and quick wittedness, the young protagonists are able to conquer not only the adversities of the otherworld, but also their personal challenges.                                                                             

During WWII-- apparently in the days before Japan's domestic front was rendered perilous by the contending forces-- young Mahito Maki loses his mother Hisako in a fire. Sometime later, his father-- a negligible presence in the story, connected to Japanese munitions-- marries Hisako's sister Natsuko. Mahito not only has to learn how to accept his new mother-- who already has a bun in her oven from her new husband-- he's also uprooted and forced to live in a new location, Natsuko's estate out in some rural territory. The father is distant and consumed with work, and Natsuko makes every effort to bond with Mahito as his "new mother." Understandably, though, he rejects Natsuko's overtures, out of loyalty to his dead mother.             

Though Mahito tries to close himself off from his new situation, he's forced to face all of his uncomfortable feelings when he's precipitated into a strange otherworld by a seemingly intelligent heron. I confess I never understood the heron's nature, though he may be some sort of wizard trapped in a bird's form, since he sometimes morphs into intermediate bird-human form. But despite sharing star-billing in the title, the heron is a secondary presence to Mahito.                                                                                                         

 The otherworld has apparently been created by a mysterious magical stone that fell into the countryside decades ago, causing many birds, such as pelicans and parakeets, to morph into strange, quasi-human forms. Another wizard is revealed to be Mahito's distant ancestor, but the world itself is somewhat arbitrary, and for that reason it doesn't merit much explication. The core sentiment of HERON is that Mahito explores it in an effort to save his "new mother" Natsuko-- which, as it happens, also serves to give Mahito closure with the "old mother" who perished. While I didn't think HERON was quite as good as SPIRITED AWAY, it provides a strong parable on the protagonist's self-determination, as well as fully justifying Miyazaki's return to active creative status, for however long he chooses to so remain.