Larissa Lopez

. Receiving critical as well as commercial success and having one of the biggest debuts for the studio and achieving them their second Oscar for best animated feature: “The Boy and the Heron.”

After the failure that was considered “Earwig and the Witch” by Studio Ghibli, legendary director Hayao Miyazaki came back once again from his retirement to create an amazing film for both kids and adults. Receiving critical as well as commercial success and having one of the biggest debuts for the studio and achieving them their second Oscar for best animated feature: “The Boy and the Heron.”

“The Boy and the Heron” brings back the original feeling from the most popular films of the studio, making a mix of fantasy with dark themes and being able to attack the heartstrings of the audience. This is shown by how the movie starts with our protagonist, a little boy named Mahito. Mahito is grieving the death of his mother occasioned by the Pacific War, making him move to another city with his father and finding a new world in an old tower in this new place, finally resulting into a glimpse into how we people manage the loss of a loved one.

Studio Ghibli is no stranger to these types of stories, but the way in which it tackles these extremely sensitive topics in a more surreal way, as how a child would envision them, makes the audience feel like a kid once again. The animation filled with colors and silly characters such as giant parakeets or more individuals with magic powers, such as Himi, a pyrokinetic girl that accompanies our protagonist throughout the exploration of this new world, which makes the movie not shy away from how crazy and wild the concept and ideas can get.

I believe that this movie can be interpreted in so many different ways, as the main theme being grief through the lens of a kid will bring a perspective we are not accustomed to. The best way to enjoy this movie is just to accept all the weirdness and outer-worldly situations, forgetting completely about reality and common sense and just enabling ourselves to understand what we personally believe the movie is trying to tell us.

Another aspect that will always stand out from Studio Ghibli movies is the soundtrack. “The Boy and the Heron” is produced by the musician Joe Hisaishi, a longtime collaborator of the studio, making it the 14^th work between the both of them. Joe Hisaishi is an outstanding soundtrack creator, creating many of my favorite songs created for films. The way in which he brings classical music and elevates the film creates an even more fantasy environment, as well as knowing when to balance the music between the sadder and more personal moments of the films with the adventure and childhood filled scenes.

The passing of time, the forgetting of memories and the acceptance that pain is part of our lives are complicated but extremely interesting topics to us as humans, connected with the personal struggles of loneliness and grief of our protagonist makes this film a masterclass in storytelling. It shows us not a specific way to connect with the film but appreciate what is being shown and perceive it in our own ways, feeling similar to open-interpretation films.