A hollow portrait of an immense artist, enveloped in an animation as graceful as it is elegant, “The Wind Rises” is one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most beautiful works, where lyricism mixes with poignant melancholy. Watch on Netflix.
Inspired by the famous airplane designer Giovanni Caproni, Jiro dreams of flying and designing magnificent airplanes. But his poor eyesight prevented him from becoming a pilot, and he was hired in the aeronautical department of a major engineering company in 1927. His genius quickly established him as one of the greatest engineers in the world.
Terrible historical events will influence his life: the Kanto earthquake in 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic, Japan’s entry into the war… Jiro will experience love with Nahoko and friendship with his colleague Honjo . An extraordinary inventor, he will bring aviation into a new era…
And to think that Miyazaki had to officially retire after the release of Princess Mononoke, in 1997… In September 2013, the absolute master of animation announced his retirement again, explaining that The Wind Rises was indeed his latest work…
This was without counting on his short film Boro the Caterpillar, in 2018, and especially The Boy and the Heron, expected in our theaters very soon, on November 1st. Happiness to see and see that the filmmaker, elevated to the rank of national treasure in Japan, still has so much to say.
Through the very moving story of Jiro Horikoshi, an engineer in love with dreams and aviation who will go down in history as the famous creator of the Japanese “zero” planes which distinguished themselves during the Second World War, it is also his hollow portrait that Miyazaki draws.
The story of an idealist, with his successes and sometimes his painful failures, and the need to move forward, despite everything. “You have to try to live.”, as the film’s subtitle specifies, very aptly. At the crossroads of History and poetry, carried by an animation as graceful as it is elegant, The wind picks up is one of Miyazaki-San’s most beautiful works, where lyricism mixes with a poignant melancholy that catches your throat more than once. Gorgeous.