Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)Written by Hayao Miyazaki (based on his own graphic novel, in turn base

Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)
Written by Hayao Miyazaki (based on his own graphic novel, in turn based on a novel by Tatsuo Hori)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Japan, 2013
Watched (at Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford) on 18th June 2014
First viewing

Shut up, I’m not crying, you’re crying, piss off I’m fine.

The Wind Rises is Hayao Miyazaki’s final film before retirement, and it’s a fitting swansong. It’s the fictionalised story of aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose aircraft were used by Japan in the Second World War. Although the film pays heed to the aeroplane’s role in the war, the main focus is on Jiro’s innovations in engineering, the beauty of flight, and his (fictionalised) personal life. Jiro’s relationship with his ailing wife Naoko is tenderly told, bittersweet and utterly heartbreaking. And, being a Miyazaki film, the animation is of course stunning. I loved every frame of it.