The third film in my sociological
retrospective of the
films of Hayao Miyazaki is the steam punk sci-fi adventure The Castle in
the Sky. The first film that was under the Studio Ghibli banner,
Castle in the Sky
acts as the coming out party for Miyazaki as a superior talent in animation
and filmmaking. It is the film that people began to sit up and take notice. It also
acts as a fledgling studio’s raucous opening volley whose impact changed the
landscape of the medium of animation forever.
PLOT
As young Sheeta is being
transported by her captors, their airship is besieged by Dola and her family of
pirates. In the ensuing chaos, Sheeta escapes by plummeting to earth from the
airship. Her descent is arrested by a mysterious necklace that was given to her
by her mother which holds the key to Sheeta’s past and lineage. She is plucked
out of the sky by Pazu, a young miner with penchant for aviation hoping to find
the floating city of Lapita once photographed by his father. Together, Pazu and
Sheeta seek to prove the existence of Lapita and uncover its secrets while
evading Muska and his government agents; who pursue the power of Lapita for their
own dark purposes.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The establishing of
Studio Ghibli and the release of Castle in the Sky marks a considerable
and significant shift in animation that reverberated through popular culture.
We consistently see its influences in the films of major animation studios like
PIXAR and Disney Studios but also specifically influenced the Japanese Final
Fantasy Bioshock and Mega Man game series, the song “Laputa” by jazz
funk artist Hiatus Kaiyote as well as its contribution to social media when, on
August 12th 2013 the term “balse” was tweeted by 143,199 people at
the same time as it appeared in the film during a Japanese re-watch party;
breaking the record for most tweeted moment in history[1] Though these markers, the
influence of Castle in the Sky as a historical and cultural product is
both vast and immense.
The Foundation of Ghibli
When Toshiro Suzuki first
met Hayao Miyazaki it did not go well.
Suzuki was a journalist with Animage and was looking for an
interview with the young director after the release of Castle
of Cagliostro . Miyazaki
declined. Suzuki then decided to “stage a protest sit in” in Miyazaki’s office for
a full day and a half before Miyazaki decided to talk to him[2] Once this barrier was
broken, Suzuki and Miyazaki along with Isao Takahata founded Ghibli; the term derived
from an Italian word for Libyan/Arabic “hot desert wind”; emblematic of the
changed they wanted to make in the anime industry. Given the fact that 6 of
Ghibli’s films (four of which directed by Miyazaki himself) are on the top 10 highest
grossing anime films of all time[3], it is inarguable that
they have succeeded[4]
One of the interesting
factors in the success story of Studio Ghibli, which bleeds into one of the
more thematic elements of their products is the studio's unique anti-capitalist ideology. Miyazaki, in an infamous
statement to his animators, told them that if they were looking to rise up the
corporate ladder they were in the wrong place. Miyazaki desires to do one film
at a time, hoping that the money from the previous film would be enough to get
them through the next one[5]. Unlike the structure of
Capitalism, Miyazaki is not looking to make ridiculous amounts of profit off
his work. In fact, his level of modesty, stoicism and control has been anathematic
to Ghibli’s success, hindering Ghibli from becoming an animation monopoly[6]. However, given the
gravity and potential profitability of recent
events, will see if that is still true in the near future.[7]
Steam Punk and its
derivatives
Steam Punk[8] is a retro futuristic sub-genre
of science fiction fantasy which incorporates the visual flare and design of 19th
century industrialization and steam powered technology into a futuristic culture
of clothing, lifestyle, advanced machinery and weaponry based upon that aesthetic.
Many of these stories center around the British Victorian era or the American
Western, and are influenced by the work of Jules Vern, H.G. Wells. This is
commonly used in works of speculative fiction about alternative histories and those that depict an amalgam of cultures and technology.
Miyazaki’s Castle in
the Sky has become a staple of the Steam Punk genre. Its creation and
design of airships, weapons, clothing and propulsive devices become standard
since its release. Released in 1986, Castle in the Sky specifically gave
steampunk such a foothold in popular culture one could argue that the entire subgenre
was built around the work of Miyazaki and a few other creators.
The popularity of steam
punk lead to the development of several categorical derivatives. Chief among these
byproducts is Cyber Punk This
sub-genre began based on the work of science fiction writers like Philip K.
Dick, Rodger Zelensky and J. G. Ballard with the difference being that opposed
to Steam Punk, Cyber Punk usually is set in some form of futuristic dystopia juxtaposed
with radical changes to the social order. A lot of the cyber punk sub genre
also incorporates noir fiction with hard boiled detective stories and aspects
of postmodernism. In the United States, this was encompassed by films like
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and its sequel. This was not popularized
Japan until the Manga release of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira,[9] which has since become a phenomena.
SOCIAL ANALYSIS
Considering that Miyazaki
has consistent and similar themes throughout all his films, it is difficult in
this retrospective to not be repetitive. Castle in the Sky like Nausicaa
before it tackles a lot of the same issues, specifically the issues of
industrialization and environmentalism. Yet, the locus of how this is achieved
is quite different. With Castle, the approach is far more optimistic,
which is a result of the age of the protagonists. Miyazaki has mentioned that
he often uses younger protagonists because of their youthful zeal and because they always
inspire hope rather than adults who often inspire dread. Castle in the Sky is
a perfect example of this ideological juxtaposition in the character
differences of Sheeta, Pazu and Muska. Whereas Sheeta and Pazu want to locate Lapita
for answers to questions that they have, Muska is just looking for a world
ending weapon.[10]
Industrialization
The industrial revolutions
that span from 1760-1850 transformed society from a pre-modern society to one of
modernity. Modernity is characterized by changing society in the following ways:
1. The
development of Capitalism as an economic system
2. The
increase in technology
3. Urbanization
4. Population
growth
5. And
increased rates of secularization
These components of modernity fundamentally shifted
the way that people lived. In the film, when we first meet Pazu he is an
apprentice to a mine worker who is using steam power to help operate elevators
and a plethora of digging equipment. As we travel through the town, we see the
economic stability that the ore mining has created and the way in which their village was created around the labor available in the
mine. However, since little time is spent in the village’s ecosystem; it cannot
be determined which common Sociological organizational model this village will
eventually take on, whether that be the Burgess Zone model, Hoyt’s sector model,
or Ullman’s Multiple Nuclei model.
Environmentalism
As urbanization continues (in whatever
form that it takes), Miyazaki is always interested in the conflict between
industrialization and the environment. In many of his films, as we will see
throughout this retrospective, there is a common notion that industrialization
is a cost to the environment with many films depicting it as toxic and in one
specific case (Princess Mononoke) the source of demonic possession. However,
in Castle in the Sky, the focus on the environment is not in opposition
to industry, but illustrates how the environment can recover, after
industrialization stops.
When Sheeta and Pazu are approaching Lapita
there is an all-encompassing storm that surrounds it called “The Dragon’s Lair.”
This acts as a deterrent and has hindered any human contact with Lapita allowing
the environment to begin to reclaim the land from the man made
industrialized structures. The state of Lapita that Sheeta and Pazu find is not
one of lavish opulence with ornate structures, and glistening towers of stone
and steel. Instead, they bear witness to an image of the earth, after civilization. There's
intense vegetation, and deep roots have begun to strangle and consume advanced
technology. Much of the technology that is left has rusted and is inoperable. The technology
that is still working (without human intervention) has been co-opted by the environment
to sustain itself, in the form of a single mossy robot that feeds birds. Here Miyazaki shows that even an immense weapon of mass destruction can be transformed into a horticultural tool.
Towards the end of the
film, it is revealed that the entire floating island is the shell for a gigantic
tree with an integrated root system. Miyazaki dramatically preserves this tree by sending
it into the upper atmosphere. Thus, symbolically displaying that the environment will
only survive outside of human intervention; a jewel in need of protection. It is unclear whether he did this to literally show that the
environment needs to be sustained in
isolation from human contact, or that as a concept, environmentalism needs to
be an ideal loftier than civilization itself.
In human civilization,
environmental rebirth usually happens after period of drastic social change
that result in the removal of humans from a specific geographic space. In some
cases, this is due to industrial or environmental disasters which have caused humans
to flee uninhabitable areas which years later are taken back by ecosystem
surrounding it. One of the clearest and
best examples of this rebirth is at the site of the Chernobyl disaster in Russia. In the thirty plus years since the disaster
caused the abandoning of structures, businesses playgrounds and buildings. The forest
has begun to take it back.
A second, and far more recent example of this is
the reports
of air and water quality improvements around major cities in the United
States, China and Italy after the quarantining of the population, and the mandatory
practices of physical
distancing The revealing reality is the clear impact human effected climate change has on the environment, and what happens to the
earth when we are not there to destroy it.
CONCLUSION
Castle
in the Sky is often passed over for some of Miyazaki’s more bombastic and frenetic
films (like the aforementioned Princess Mononoke or Ponyo), or even those
films that are more soulful and contemplative (such as The Wind Rises or
Spirited Away). It has not helped that Castle in the Sky was one of two films by Miyazaki that was
edited the most for an international release.
These changes altered character motivation, and eliminated the importance
of the source material[11]. The biggest atrocity of
this was the English language dub. The voice cast (which often is a who’s who
of popular actors of the moment) aged up the characters in the story from pre-teens to teenagers which changes a lot of the emotional beats and the context of
the film. The English dub also creates a romantic subplot between Sheeta and one of the pirates which is
especially grating. These changes have limited the notoriety of this film in popular
culture even among Miyazaki fans. Many Miyazaki fans forget about Castle in
the Sky, it is not one we often go back to. But when we do, we still
realize that it is the work of a Master just about to hit his stride.
Viewing Recommendation:
Watch this film in the original Japanese
(which is generally a foundational rule) using the blu-ray re-release
distributed by GKIDS instead of Disney if possible.
[2] Interview
with Suzuki on the Castle in the Sky GKids blu-ray release
[4] This
is regardless of the type of distribution whether that be home video release or
a theatrical run. Additionally, Ghibli films make of the majority of films on
this list that is not based on Manga or a preexisting franchise or property.
[6] Although,
Miyazaki acquiesces to the licensing of their characters for merchandise in
order to keep the lights in the studio on.
[7]
The question I have is why now? Are things in that dire straits that the studio
could not resist anymore? While, as an animation cinephile, I want these films
to retain their quality and formatting and not have to be zipped or compressed
that which will ultimately flatten out the images, I also want the distribution
to be presented in its premiere format ala I would prefer no one watch a
Miyazaki film on their phone.
[9] Which
I will be covering in an upcoming post
[10] I
will talk about the way in which Miyazaki tackles militarization during my review
of The Wind Rises and the importance of Atomic imagery is my review of Akira
[11]
Gulliver’s Travels and Treasure Island
