'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' (1984)

Genre: Adventure and Fantasy

Director: Miyazaki Hayao

Writer: Miyazaki Hayao

Music by: Joe Hisaishi

Rated:PG

Princess Nausicaä struggles to keep peace between two nations before they destroy themselves and their dying planet.

'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind', another work of Miyazaki Hayao, a well-known filmmaker who is known for other films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and etc. The film company that created 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind', along with the other films listed was Studio Ghibli.  The main people who worked on most of these films are the founders of Studio Ghibli.  Studio Ghibli is known to create loving films with a fascinating worlds with lovable and relatable characters.

I was able to watch 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' in theaters because selected theaters are holding the Studio Ghibli Festival 2017. It started on June 25 with My Neighbor Totoro and each month till November they are showing Studio Ghibli films in theaters around the country. I first watched Studio Ghibli films during my middle school days because the channel TCM was having a marathon on Miyazaki Hayao’s work. Lot of the films I’ve seen through out my life from that point, but I don’t think I’ve seen 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' since when I first watch it years ago.  It was a great chance to rewatch this wonderful film on the big screen.

Nausicaä is a strong-willed girl who strongly believes in peace between the humans and the creatures that inhabit the planet.  The film follows Nausicaä as outside sources strive to bring the age of humans back to Earth threatens her Valley of the Wind and the planet itself. It connects to today’s issues with Global Warming. The Sea of Decay pollutes villages because of human’s activities affecting the Earth. In this world, insects of different size and appearance roams the world. Humans are afraid of these insects which lead to violence and the insects’ rage.  Nausicaä knows that the insects are not bad and tries to create peace, but things get out of hand.  It’s a beautiful film with amazing artwork and story plot that can touch people’s heart.  I know it did for me, I cried during the film.  It’s about mutual respect and friendship as Nausicaä tries to save everyone.

I always love the art style that Studio Ghibli use in their films along with the story, but another aspect of the films I love is the sound track.  Each film has their own unique soundtrack, but still has the same feeling of a Studio Ghibli film.  The main creator of the soundtrack is Joe Hisaishi. His songs have a calming, peaceful tune to them to portray the feeling in the film.  The soundtrack in 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' has the emotional, somewhat calming tune along with interesting songs that make is seem like you’re playing a video game.  During the fast pace scenes, the tempo is faster with some interesting sounds that you might hear from a video game.  'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' was original a manga that Miyazaki had drawn. Miyazaki was also a manga artist, and studios encouraged him to adapt 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' to a film.  He agreed to it as long as he directs it.  I wonder since this film was originally a manga series if that influence the soundtrack style with having some upbeat music.

An interesting fact, Miyazaki Hayao’s first feature film debut was Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. His next film was 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind', which led to his next work and the debut of Studio Ghibli, ‘Castle in the Sky’. Several of the crew from 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' also worked on ‘Castle in the Sky’.  The Studio Ghibli Festival 2017 shows each film for two to three days in theaters with one day the film has subtitles with the original Japanese voice acting and then another day with the English dub. Also, 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' has several well-known actors for the dub version like Sir Patrick Stewart, Mark Hamill, and Shia LeBeouf.

Whenever I watch a Studio Ghibli film or a Miyazaki Hayao’s work, I’m inspired to create my own story and the films helped influence my style of storytelling.  I highly recommend watching Studio Ghibli films and Miyazaki Hayao’s work too.  Lots of the films also help empower women with the strong, well-round girls as the main character with a fun and interesting world.