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Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (anime) Kaze no Tani no Naushika 風の谷のナウシカ |
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Atria35's Review Nausicaä is right up there in Ghibli’s darkest films, second only to Grave of the Fireflies. This is a land almost overtaken by desolation- one where breathing the air for too long will send you to an early grave, as is happening with Nausicaä’s father, one where the hardest struggle may not guarantee your survival. Even in the face of this, Nausicaä remains optimistic- that perhaps she can cure her father’s disease, and that they can live in peace with the creatures of the forest if humans take the time to understand them instead of simply fighting against them. Her fairly peaceful world is shattered when a warship carrying an important prisoner crashes in her valley with a weapon of devastating power left from the war that destroyed the world. Nausicaä is a powerful work of anti-war, pro-environmentalist themes that never is preachy or condescending or takes it to a level that would make people unconfortable. The story is strong enough that it feels as natural and obvious as anything- and not in a bad way. Even looking back, there are lessons that are true in it. Nausicaä brings the conflict home in her character- in a fit of rage, she ends up killing others, but hates herself for it and vows to never allow it to happen again. She also tries her hardest to protect others from death. Since she understands the motivations behind how the creatures of the forest act (and they are animals, acting on mostly natural instinct), Nausicaa teaches others how to respect them and shares her knowledge- they can live together on each other’s periphery if humans can learn to calm down. There’s action, adventure, and the plot threads are tied together very nicely. It’s a wonderful film in its own right- no need to actually read the manga it’s based off of. (Side note: The manga and the anime are quite different. The movie is the adaptation of the first volume or so- the manga goes its own route after that). Violence/Gore: The ideas of death are very prevalent. Nausicaä’s father is killed onscreen, a girl dies from injuries, there’s the implication of the Sea of Decay killing the inhabitants of a kingdom. The reminders that this is a deadly world are everywhere. No death is graphic or gory. Nudity/Sexual Content: I didn't notice anything except one scene where Lady Tolmekia says that whoever marries her will 'see a lot worse', referring to the injuries that have disabled her and implicitely implying that he'd see them when they were intimate. It will go over the heads of the youngest. Theological Themes: There is a legend of a messianistic figure that will help save the Valley. Rocklobster put it exactly in his review above. |
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| Added: September, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
