Went to see the dubbed version yesterday, but fell asleep through part of the middle and totally lost track of what was happening. (Not the movie's fault! I have nighttime sleep issues.) Planning to catch the subtitled version tonite. I don't have much of a critical mind for any media, but I thought this was another delightful outing from Ghibli. We have wild parakeets in Austin, and now I feel a little less comfortable having them around.
I fully enjoyed it. Definitely one of his more serious films, pretty heavy when you think about it, but retains a lot of what I love about his movies in general.
Spoiler That went deep. Picked up some heavy Dark Tower\meta\multiverse vibes (e.g. the tower is the center of the multiverse). Enjoyed all the characters and soundtrack was excellent. Still trying to wrap my head around the story, which kind of felt a bit like Inception but without the caper. It was too much weirdness for my daughter, and she just could not get into it. Good times though.
Just got out of it. Didn't realize we were hitting a dubbed showing (so much going on this week it slipped my mind to check) and was a bit disappointed by that, but I let it go and it was fine. Gorgeous, strange, funny, psychedelic. The most interpretive/ambiguous of Miyazaki's movies, I'd say; also the only one during which I said to myself, "wow, that's downright Lynchian" at a couple moments. Don't miss it on the big screen.
I am a big fan of bringing kids see complicated adult movies and this isn’t an adult movie per se, more of like new kind of folktale, maybe more meant to puzzle than tell you what to think or feel. Kids need to be expose to much more of that kind of media if we don’t want to create zombies. My 2 cents. Loved the Boy and the Heron! I was super surprised by the turned it took (had not see any trailers) at some point. It made me think of Jodorowsky and Moebius The Incal quite a bit. At various points I was wondering if what I was seeing weren’t straight up Myazaki s homage to the comic. A great last last movie by a true master. At the end I thought I just saw Myazaki unhinged. As if in his old age he tried less to please his public and more his friends, dead or alive. I think too much. I will try to watch it again at the theater before it’s gone.
Saw it a second time tonight with subs and caffeine so I did not take an old man nap. More elements connected on this viewing. I was really blown away this time with the richness of detail in the animation. I know that's a Miyazaki trademark, but I was able to see it more the second time (and fully awake), and it was delicious. I wonder what Mahito read in the book "How to Live" that his mom left for him. How the hell did that boob of a dad end up with the ladies from that mysterious family? What happens to warawara when they are eaten and do not get to ascend and be born? Again, fuck those parakeets.
