The Wind Rises (2014)

Animation legend Hayao Miyazaki has called –- only to retract the statement -- “The Wind Rises” his final film. Thank goodness. We need Miyazaki. “Wind” is unlike anything in Miyazaki’s past, eschewing pure fantasy, it’s a dream-heavy dramatic take on engineer Jiro Horikoshi (Hideaki Anno) who would design for the prototype fighter jet that would spawn the infamous Zero plane of World War II. Horikoshi -– an innocent whose dreams of piloting are mooted by poor eye sight and haunted by a devastating earthquake –- knows his designs will be used in war. His childhood dreams of flight were marked by scenes of war early on and as he grows older, the darkness only increases until a massive group of glimmering planes become a graveyard of wreckage. He proceeds anyway, despite his desire to build aircraft to improve, not dominate lives. “Wind” stops far short of calling Horikoshi’s work criminal. Could he have refused the work? Miyazaki introduces empirical reality as Horikoshi’s “patriotism” is questioned, and his romantic marriage is put to the side for work. Put aside politics and nationalism, this is great unequaled work of art, of a dreamer by one of our greatest dreamers. The animation here is breathtaking, unparalleled. A