The Boy and the Heron Review: The Best Ghibli Movie in Years Is Finally Here

The Boy and the Heron is Studio Ghibli’s latest film and Hayao Miyazaki’s first release in a decade. The film revolves around Mahito Maki, a young man who encounters a talking heron who takes him to another world with the promise of returning his deceased mother, and what follows is a fantastic journey of dealing with loss and discovering the right way to live life.

The Boy and the Heron will be officially released on December 8, 2023, but it has already had premieres at several film festivals around the world. The first premiere in the United States was at the 2023 New York Film Festival, and anyone who was present was able to see a film that excels in story and animation, second only to the best of Studio Ghibli. It’s a film that truly stands out as one of Hayao Miyazaki’s best, and overall, it’s no wonder he once considered retiring upon its release.

The Boy and the Heron is one of Studio Ghibli’s Best Studio Ghibli has always been famous for the exceptional direction of its films, and The Boy and the Heron might be one of its best yet. In terms of animation, every scene in The Boy and the Heron has a level of fluidity and composition that far surpasses its predecessors, turning every scene, big or small, into a visual spectacle. The opening scene, with Mahito running to his mother, stands out for its creative use of color, shadows, and choreography, being one of the best scenes to ever appear in a Studio Ghibli film, whether by Hayao Miyazaki or otherwise.

The soundtrack of The Boy and the Heron is also very praiseworthy. Joe Hisaishi is back to provide the music, and his soundtrack does an incredible job of capturing the mood of each scene, whether it be tense, melancholic, or a rare moment of happiness between the cast. Hisaishi’s music is a real treat in The Boy and the Heron , as well as other Studio Ghibli films, and when combined with the animation, it all comes together to give The Boy and the Heron a level of direction that is stands out as one of Studio Ghibli’s best, if not the best.

The Characters in The Boy and the Heron Are All Fascinating to Watch In addition to its wonderful direction, The Boy and the Heron has incredible characters. The Boy and the Heron , like Hayao Miyazaki’s previous works, is very much a human drama, and the script does a great job of adding humanity to its cast. Mahito and Himi are the main beneficiaries of that kind of writing, with the film going to great lengths to explore their various traumas and how they react to them, but even smaller characters like Kiriko, Natsuko, and Mahito’s father are developed enough to be completely defined by themselves.

The more comedic and tertiary characters are also great additions to the film. The Gray Heron serves as a great comedic counterpoint to Mahito, and the parakeets provide a lot of levity. On the other hand, the noble pelican, with the little screen time he has, does a great job emphasizing the cruelty of the world Mahito finds himself in, and Mahito’s great-uncle was excellent at emphasizing the grand scale of everything beyond of the human drama. Some of the characters certainly would have benefited from more development, but overall, they all make a great ensemble for the film.

The Story of The Boy and the Heron Is Its Weakest Attribute As expected from Hayao Miyazaki, the story of The Boy and the Heron is also excellent, although it is not without its flaws. Everything from start to finish is captivating as Miyazaki explores his usual avenues of war and humanity, and the exploration of those ideas through Mahito’s arc makes the drama truly engrossing. The film also manages to balance things out with plenty of quiet comedic moments that never overstay their welcome, resulting in a story that is near perfect in its execution of Miyazaki’s ideas.

Unfortunately, the film has some shortcomings. For starters, much of the supporting cast lacks any kind of characterization, making it difficult to get attached to them. The pacing of the second half is also incredibly fast, making things like the nature of the other world, Mahito’s acceptance of Natsuko, and the high-concept nature of Mahito’s great-uncle’s god, underdeveloped and difficult to follow. explain. The Boy and the Heron still manages to tie everything together coherently, but these points unfortunately end up taking away from a lot of its quality.

The Central Theme of The Boy and the Heron Makes the Movie Above all, what The Boy and the Heron sells best is its central theme: trying to understand how to live properly. The heart of the film explores Mahito’s struggle with that idea in the midst of tragedy and change, something that ends up being perfectly contrasted again and again with things like Himi’s acceptance of her tragic destiny and her great-uncle’s refusal to do so. Mahito to face reality. It makes the story incredibly relatable in ways one wouldn’t expect from its fantastical nature, and seeing such a heavy topic handled with such care adds a lot of depth to the film as a whole.

All of that, of course, peaks with Mahito’s final resolve to accept the change and continue living his life. While it may seem like an obvious conclusion, that didn’t make it any less serious, and the work Mahito had to do to get there made the journey and the emotional catharsis gained from the resolution invaluable. Mahito’s journey was the core of the film’s original title, How Do You Live? (How do you live?), and it served as a perfect answer to that question and was able to close the movie in an excellent way.

Although he has since backtracked, The Boy and the Heron was supposed to be Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, and it would have been an incredible film to end his career. The film was not without its flaws, mainly in terms of its story, but with its incredible direction, characters and universal themes, it more than makes up for it and creates a film that stands out as one of Studio Ghibli’s best. The Boy and the Heron is a film that no Hayao Miyazaki fan should miss, and seeing him top something like this with his next project will be truly fascinating.

Be sure to check out The Boy and the Heron when it makes its wider release on December 8.