Nausicaa, the second of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Porco Rosso (1992).

This week: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).

Synopsis: Nausicaä (voiced by Alison Lohman) is a princess of the eponymous Valley of the Wind during a bleak post-apocalyptic time period. Her kingdom benefits from its location along a coastline, where the wind blows away all the toxic air that comes from the neighboring forests, which are also filled with dangerous, giant bugs. While the Valley of the Wind is a small kingdom, the neighboring kingdoms are much better equipped and more politically ambitious. Conflict soon comes to the Valley of the Wind, and Nausicaä must work with others to save her people and find a harmony between mankind and nature.

Spoiler-free review: This film is one of the harder Miyazaki movies to review, because it reminds me a lot of Princess Mononoke (which I’ve seen before, but haven’t watched yet for the series). It has a darker tone; it’s more ambitious in terms of the worldbuilding; it has more ‘adult’ components to it (like the political and environmental undertones); and it’s not a particularly ‘fun’ Miyazaki movie. I had such a blast watching Porco Rosso last week, but this film feels denser and much heavier by comparison. That being said, by no means is it a bad film. The worldbuilding is well-done, the creatures’ designs and the movie’s visuals are stunning, and it features a very talented voice cast including Edward James Olmos, Uma Thurman and Patrick Stewart. I find it kind of interesting that this was classified as a children’s film when I picked it up at the library, because I feel like younger kids (ages 4-7) would be very overwhelmed or bored by this movie. It really seems more for older children (ages 8-10) or pre-teens. And, of course, adults will probably enjoy it as well. So, I would say it’s definitely worth checking out, but it’s not the fun and breezy watch that Porco Rosso is.

Letter grade: B

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

Overall, I’d say that there are Miyazaki movies that I like better, and there are Miyazaki movies that I think are done better, but this is a worthy sophomore outing for the famous director after his debut with Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

While the film is older and doesn’t have the same brilliant colors or newer techniques and technologies that later Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films benefit from, it’s still very impressive and doesn’t feel quite as dated as other animation from the 70s and 80s. So, overall the animation and the visuals really hold up after 35 years.

When the movie first introduced Nausicaä, I was afraid she was going to be a very typical Disney princess-type of character — sweet, kind, innocent, cares about animals, is loved by everyone, and seemingly has no flaws. However, about a third of the way into the movie, there was an important moment for Nausicaä, and after that, I was totally on board with her character. When another kingdom invades the Valley of the Wind, and kills Nausicaä’s father, the king, she acts on her darkest impulses and her overwhelming grief and anger and kills every single one of the enemy soldiers in the room. And, while there are a lot of dark things in this movie visually (including a stand-in for a nuclear weapon), this is perhaps the darkest thing, tone-wise, that we see.

Now, other films probably would’ve used that moment to turn Nausicaä into some kind of vengeful hero who rallied her people to fight the invaders and take back their land — which would be typical of a lot of other action/adventure movies of that era and this one. But, instead, this film does the exact opposite. Nausicaä realizes what she’s done and what it means and the terrible cost it has, and uses what she’s done to recommit herself to pacifism and protecting life, especially the lives of her people. She tells them that, while it’s devastating to lose their kingdom and have to surrender to the invaders, it’s better to lose their land and their freedom than it is to lose their lives.

One downside to the movie that I’ll mention is the weird shoehorned-in prophecy. It’s only mentioned once, very early on in the movie, and then really doesn’t come into play again at all until the final minutes. I even went back and double-checked: the animators specifically changed the color of the outfit Nausicaä is wearing toward the end of the movie just so she will fit the prophecy. Nausicaä’s outfit, when she first puts it on and starts heading back to the Valley of the Wind, is pink. But at some point during the final confrontation with the ohmu, it suddenly and inexplicably becomes blue — which fits the prophecy. So, I’m not sure why it was discussed or put in the film in the first place. Nausicaä’s actions still would’ve been heroic and brave and critical for her people (and mankind as a whole) without having to make her some kind of prophesied savior. She’s the hero of our story without needing to fulfill some great destiny. Having her try so desperately to save everyone — the ohmu included — is reason enough to root for her.

In any case, I feel like the messages of this movie — about empathy, compassion, and the preciousness of all life — are well done, but might fly over the heads of some younger viewers. Still, it’s a wonderful movie, and while I think that Princess Mononoke handles some of these same things much better, I’ll have to talk about that whenever I review it in the coming weeks.

Next week: Castle in the Sky (1986).