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Miyazaki Talks to the Guardian
BrainGeyser writes to tell us The Guardian is running an interesting summary of an interview with Hayao Miyazaki, proclaimed 'God' of anime. In the interview Miyazaki discusses a wide range of issues from his distribution deal with Disney to the future of anime. From the article: 'There is a rumor that when Harvey Weinstein was charged with handling the US release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a samurai sword in the post. Attached to the blade was a stark message: "No cuts."' While it was actually Miyazaki's producer, Miyazaki did 'go to New York to meet this man, this Harvey Weinstein, and [..] was bombarded with this aggressive attack, all these demands for cuts. He [Miyazaki] smiles. "I defeated him."'
Of course, the "no cut" was because of that "marvelous" Warrior of the Wind. Or how to turn Nausicaa into an hollywoodian action-packed movie.
ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
Spirited Away. It's probably the friendliest for american audiences. (let the flaming begin!) My Neighbor Totoro is a classic fantastic for kids (and others of course!). The Princess Mononoke is better for kids who are a little older.
There are lives at stake here!
Mononoke first. Porco Rosso second. Then anything is good.
Spirited Away requires some understanding of bath houses and kami to fully enjoy. Totoro also happens in Japan, but the story is more universal.
Kiki is his most disneyesque work, good for introducing others.
Nausicaa, Laputa, I'm sure I'm forgetting some.
ID: the nose did not occur naturally, how would we wear glasses otherwise? (apologies to Voltaire)
Had no idea Miyazaki was such a tough S.O.B.
You should definitely read his description in the words of Mamoru Oshii of the "Ghost In The Shell" fame:
My first impression was that he was a really light hearted person. But when the conversation got heated, he was really merciless, and I was told many harsh things. -laughs- So it ended with the impression like "what a SOB!"
The "no cuts" story is interesting. Had no idea Miyazaki was such a tough S.O.B. But I guess that goes with being a great filmmaker.
It stems from a 1980's North American release of Nausicaa that had been licensed by some fly-by-night American company. Re-titled "Warriors of the Wind", it was severely cut (running less than 66% of the original's time), utterly incomprehensible, and a total disaster. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli were so pissed off that they asked fans to forget the existence of the film and adopted a strict "no edits" clause for any future foreign licensing deals.
They did mention he was missing and that this was the trigger for the war.
He insisted on cutting twenty minutes out of hero because he felt that nearly two hours was too long for a foreign film. http://www.monkeypeaches.com/Hero.html
the weinstein's are notorious for making cuts. they do NOT like long movies, and have cut huge chunks out of imported cinematic feasts such as "Cinema Paradiso" and "life is beautiful." Princess Mononoke, the movie that was localized by Miramax's staff, is considered to be long for an animated movie. it was also more violent than anything that disney has ever produced.
Though I haven't seen "Kiki's delivery service" yet which I heard wasn't as good. I'm sure it is though.
Kiki's excellent, too, but almost purely a coming of age movie. Early-teen stuff, no war, no epic, no magic... except for the magic of a beautiful, idealistic European town, the magic of nice people, the magic of life, the magic of music and excellent storytelling. Oh, and some broom flights, too.
There are four volumes, so it develops the world and story to a much greater depth than in the movie. It's Tolkienesque in scope, as much an exercise in world-building as storytelling. Miyazaki creates maps, kingdoms, technology, religions, and ecology for the world.
At the same time, his character development is excellent. As always his villains are the most interesting ones, and he's got a ton of them. They're also much more developed than in the movie. Princess Kushana switches sides halfway through, there's an immortal king suffering from ennui who is just fantastic, and then there's the God Warrior. The God Warrior is a mindless killing machine in the movie; but in the comics it is sentient... which makes it much more creepy, and Nausicaa's relationship with it is weirdly touching, but mostly disturbing.
There are some parts that come off as overly sentimental in the third volume- probably my least favorite- but it picks up again, strong, in the fourth. The fourth volume is as dark as Miyazaki gets. The ending... not happy, not unhappy. Complex. Again, that makes it one of his stronger works.
I'm not a huge fan of Japanese entertainment, but this is hands-down my favorite comic.
Totoro is the only japanese movie I can watch without subtitles and still understand after 3 years of studying the language. much of the plot and ideas are conveyed through action and not words, though there are some themes which westerners would find uncomfortable (like the family bath scene). I'm pretty sure that most of the lore spun in that movie is not traditional Japanese myth, though it does have correlation. It's a fun movie that moves you..
He was interviewed about this once:
Question: Why do you always choose a girl as your theme?
Miyazaki: I don't logically plan it that way. When we compare a man in action and a girl in action, I feel girls are more gallant. If a boy is walking with a long stride, I don't think anything particular, but if a girl is walking gallantly, I feel "that's cool." Maybe that's because I'm a man, and women may think it's cool when they see a young man striding. At first, I thought "this is no longer the era of men. This is no longer the era of taigimeibun." But after ten years, I grew tired of saying that. I just say "cause I like women." That has more reality.
The original quote was here: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/heroin es.html#s2. There's also a few more interviews about the subject there as well.
Cheers,
Paul