The Second film in my
analysis of The
Films of Hayao Miyazaki is the post-apocalyptic fantasy Nausicaa of the Valley of
the Wind. This is the film that put Miyazaki and his
team on the map allowing him to develop and create his own studio.
While not known at the time, but Nauscicca embodies everything that we
have come to identify as quintessentially “Miyazaki”. Many of the elements,
themes and struggles in the film become a standard template for Miyazaki films
in the future, eventually identifying as Miyazaki’s signature. Thus, it
is through the film’s plot, context (both social and historical), and various
themes that make Nausicaa the first pure Miyazaki film.
THE (NEAR) BIFURCATION OF
MIYAZAKI
When looking at the totality
of Miyazaki’s work, much like a lot of categorizations, you can divide most of Miyazaki’s
work in to one of two categories based upon their intended audience. There are Miyazaki
films that are more clearly marketed for adults (dealing with heavier themes
and darker subtext) and those films that are marketed to children (the films
that are socialization tools that have strong and powerful messages for what it
means to be an adult usually involving young children as the protagonist).
Miyazaki Films for Adults
Miyazaki
films for Children
However, because binaries are unequal social
constructs that have been proven time and again to not fit the complex
diversity of reality; it can be argued (correctly in my opinion) that many of
these Miyazaki films straddle the line between being solely for adults or exclusively
for children. In fact, many of his films involve children as the protagonists,
but also has them confront very adult ideas of work, life, and existence. Therefore,
while the methodology of this list is an easy shorthand for discerning the more
dramatic of Miyazaki’s stories compared to those that are more lighthearted,
all of Miyazaki’s films can be enjoyed by all.
PLOT
1000 years after the collapse of industrialization and
the “7 days of fire” that covered the planet, Humanity is divided into large
“Kingdoms” which are interlocked in battle between themselves and the
environment which is personified by the Ohm, large trilobite creatures that, in
fits of rage attack the humans. The air
is toxic and the spores of the forest jeopardize the meager civilizations that
have survived. The titular Nausicaa is the Princess of the Valley of the Wind,
one of the human Kingdoms that is positioned in a valley closest to the sea.
Its constant breeze and lush forest protect the kingdom from the toxic spores
that have been known to invade and destroy a civilization. This is all put in jeopardy
when waring rival kingdoms invade the Valley seeking an ancient weapon that
will suppress the toxic forest and allow one kingdom total supremacy. Nausicaa must act as a bridge between the
forest and humanity, quelling tension and aggression on both sides and needing to
find the most direct and efficient way to achieve long lasting peace.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
(re)gaining
trust
Miyazaki’s
previous film The Castle ofCagliostro was not well received at the box office regardless of wining the
prestigious Ofuji
Noburo Animation Award[1] in
part due to the way that Miyazaki “softened” the Lupin characters so that they
would not seem so nihilistic or sexist. Many people chided that it was not “the
real” (or to be more accurate) “their” Lupin[2]. As a result of this
backlash, and poor box office performance Miyazaki’s subsequent film ideas
could not get any traction at any major animation studio. He was seen as too
big of a risk. Therefore, as a proof of
concept he published the two volume Manga
version of Nausicaa beginning in 1979, first published in 1982. The
Manga was a huge success (selling over 11 million copies) which paved the way
for the film adaptation.
Leaving
it all on the field
The constant setbacks, detours and delays that
Miyazaki and his team experienced attempting to bring Nausicaa to
fruition left them feeling disillusioned. This despondence and trepidation was
well warranted. Miyazaki and his team had yet to establish themselves (Takahata’s
ground breaking film Grave of the Fireflies only gets made until after
Nausicaa’s success) and they were worried that if Nausicaa was received
as well as Castle of Cagliostro, no one else would allow them to make
another film. Thus, feeling that this may be their only shot at expressing themselves
they began to lace Nausicaa with all of the values, beliefs, ideals, and
tropes that would become a signature of the then forthcoming Studio Ghibli and
Miyazaki in particular.
Warriors
of the Wind
While
the film did very well in a majority of the international Markets in the United
States, the distribution companies of Manson International and Showmen, Inc
edited and recut Miyazaki’s original film into what they titled Warriors of
the Wind. This recut/edit of the film not only changed the focus away from
Nausicaa to more of an ensemble piece[3]; it also cut out 25
minutes of footage. This lead to a lot of the themes being lost or changed
(particularly those about female empowerment and environmentalism).Including:
·
In this version the Ohm are seen and
understood only as aggressive antagonists
·
The titular “warriors” use the “God
warrior” to destroy the Ohm
·
All
of the character development for Nausicaa (Now called Princess Zandra) was cut
Bring completely dissatisfied with the actions of the
US distributors, Miyazaki mandated final cut for all of his projects once Studio
Ghibli was created. This was to make sure that he could control the fate of his
finished films and make sure that audiences could view his film in the way that
he had intended.
SOCIAL CONTEXT
In taking a critical sociological perspective on Miyazaki’s
films and specifically Nausicaä one gets the sense through both his
Manga, and the film that he believes that film has a duty to say something about
the world in an attempt to make it better than how he left it. As indicated in my introduction to Miyazaki’s
work he often wrestles with the feeling and self-perception that he has not
done enough for the world, that his films are nothing compared to the real work
that needs to be done.[4] Yet, through his films complex
themes and a focus and representation of femininity and a divergent look at the
“ Princess culture”, Miyazaki, through his films, has provided progressive
cultural messaging that is the foundation of any progressive social policies or
social justice movement. In Nausicaä specifically, because they were unsure of its success and longevity they
packed the film with a dense variety of themes, that he eventually spreads out
in his later films.
Anti Capitalism/
Industrialism
In Nausicaa’s opening narration, we are known
that it is a thousand years since the collapse of industrialization. The basic
sociological understanding of history points to the correlation between the
rise of industrialization and early capitalism. The idea that the industrial
technology shifted how we live (from a pre-modern era to a modern era) that it
created new social and cultural norms, ways of behavior that allowed capitalism
as an economic system to grow, and thrive.
This summation of Marx
and Weber’s thoughts on the subject can provide some illustration:
Marxio
Is Capitalism Bad For You?
While we don’t get a full explanation as to what
happened to cause the fall of industrialization or what truly happened during
the “Seven days of Fire”. Though I would assume due to the collusion between Capitalism, Industry and the Military and the
endless wars that we (especially the United States)
fight it is conceivable and some might even say inevitable that we will eventually
destroy ourselves. This is something Miyazaki understood all too well.
In Nausicaä, Miyazaki discusses ancient
biological weapons that were stock piled and used against warring factions that
we can assume led to the aforementioned “7 days of fire”. These weapons are clear
allegories to the nuclear bomb (something Japaneseanimation has always been obsessed with). Being born in 1941, Miyazaki found the
experience of WWII and the bombs informative as a child, and then used the ancient
weapons as a way that he could talk about the dangers of nuclear proliferation…which
is also a product of the toxic, unregulated, late stage capitalism.
Environmentalism
…Industrial
civilizations sprawl across the face of the planet plundering the soil of its
riches fouling the air, and remolding life forms at will. Cities burned,
welling up as clouds of posion…Almost all of the surface of the earth was
transformed into a sterile wasteland Hayao
Miyazaki Nausicaä Manga
It is through this quote in the opening cover of the
first volume that lays out the beginning of Miyazaki’s thesis on environmentalism
that would eventually span a number of his films. Here Miyazaki is drawing a direct causation
between industrialization and environmental destruction. According to Jorgensen
et al[5] (2018) the current drivers
of climate change are economic systems (capitalism as previously mentioned) and
Consumption. Our consumption practices, especially for energy are dangerously
unsustainable which fuels environmental depletion.
-
The
US is 4.5% of the world’s population
-
But
it makes up 21.8% of the global energy use
-
31.8%
of industrial consumption
-
39.6%
of residential and commercial energy purposes
-
28.6%
of the world’s transportation consumption
This
equates that the US alone consumes an average of 40% of Global resources.
This desire for resources has led to practices of
acquiring those resources quickly and cheaply that are often damaging to the
environment, practices that have a long history dating back to
Industrialization: Burning coal, deforestation, strip mining, offshore
drilling. Unfortunately, the US is often the model for global capitalist
success. Which means that other newly industrialized countries like China, are
following similar industrial practices as the United States, with greater
production and reckless environmental abandon.
Mark Maslin addresses
this in his book Climate Change: a Very Short Introduction when he
states:
“Climate
change challenges the very economic theories that have dominated global
economics for the last 35 years and that we need to build a new [economic and]
political system that will allow collective action and more equal distribution
of wealth, resources and opportunities.” P 172
This is because
industrialization and capitalism has
created value in cultural ideas skills and behaviors that result in
environmental destruction.
-
Just
4 % of big five energy producers went to renewable energy research and
implementation [6]
-
Climate
deniers often manufacture the threat that being eco-friendly is a threat to
Capitalism. This was the same excuse that was leveed against abolitionists, The
occupy movement about redistribution and any kind of substantive change
-
The
Solution to the modern ecological problem is: the radical reordering of our
economic political systems that are antithetical to the “free market” belief
system[7]
-
We
need to plan economies based upon collective priorities and need rather than
corporate profitability. This the way that the sustainability becomes Macro in focus
-
To accomplish this, it takes strong Government
action at all levels
In the context of Miyazaki,
It is fascinating to see that during the time that we gain the ability to
measure our impact on the environment[8],
Miyazaki also gives us this film as an environmentalist cautionary tale. Through
Nausicaä, Miyazaki removes all sub text, and in the text of
the film states the importance of the forest to the air quality of the kingdom;
positioning Nausicaa’s kingdom as geopolitically valuable due to the wind being
able to keep the poisonous spores from festering. The later revelation that it was the forest
that is trying to clean the air of pollutants and save humanity is a mic drop
of a conclusion.
Feminism/ Female Empowerment (better
princess culture)
Miyazaki
has always been interested in telling stories about the empowerment and humanity
of young girls and women. This has led Miyazaki and his work to be
embraced by feminists. As well he should, as he has always been positioned as
the antithesis to a western princess culture. Also, it is difficult in the increasing
corporatization of (the princess) culture through the Disney monolith that has commodified
all aspects of the childhood of multiple generations to find something that is not
reinforcing
tired stereotypes on the next generation or weaponizing them through nostalgia
for adults today.
Like the trees in Nausicaä, Miyazaki films act as a barrier
of protection against this homogeneous toxicity by having the radical idea that women
are three-dimensional people. And while,
yes, the monolith[9]
is learning some better lessons these days, the change is usually motivated by profit
rather than altruism; and the changes that they make are ultimately derivative of
Miyazaki from 30 years ago.
EXAMPLE: REY IS NAUSICCA
EXHIBIT A
EXHIBIT B
CONCLUSION
Nausicca
of the Valley of the Wind is one of the best princess films in existence
and it acts as the proof of concept for Miyazaki’s entire career with the establishment of Studio Ghibli. A studio which is not motivated by profit, and
seeks to only be able to make enough money to keep the lights on, and the
creators working. Nausicca has
everything that is essential to a Miyazaki film. It is a film that represents
the essence of its creator/director that it is the film that encapsulates his
feelings on the world. See it. Own it. Share it.
[1]
Miyazaki would go on to win this award an additional four times in his career with
Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Totoro, and Ponyo also winning this award.
[2]
You see this happen even today whether that be the “release the Snyder cut”
weirdos or the petition for The Last Jedi to no longer be canon.
[3]
The cover adds a lot more men to the story that are not in the original film.
[4] In
Sociology, there is a concept put forth by Charles H. Cooley called reference
groups. These are individuals living or dead that we use to regulate and
evaluate our own behavior. In reading about how Miyazaki feels that he has yet
to do something significant makes me wonder who is in his reference group. In
other words: who is he comparing himself to that feels so inadequate?
[6]
Naomi Klein (2011) “Capitalism vs. The Climate.” The Nation
[7]
Naomi Klein (2011) “Capitalism vs. The Climate.” The Nation
[8] We
gain the ability to measure atmospheric CO2 in the 1980’s
[9]
Disney
