My chosen creative is Hayao Miyazaki, a Japanese film director and animator. He is well known for his chairing of the famous Studio Ghibli. As a filmmaker Miyazaki has been involved with some of the most breathtaking and captivating films ever produced in the anime style of art. Two of the films that I would like to highlight would be “My Neighbor Totoro” (1988) and “The Wind Rises” (2013). “My Neighbor Totoro” is known for being a whimsical tale of two young girls getting accustomed to a new life in a more rural setting with their father. The girls explore the surrounding areas and find a large cat-like creature, their neighbor Totoro. Here we can see one of the most prominent processes of creativity that Miyazaki uses, activity. Miyazaki uses nature to draw inspiration for his creative processes, and one of his favorite activities is putting himself directly in contact with nature. Miyazaki is known for observing the quiet parts of life, or even the mundane parts of life, and allowing stories to form from those moments. This is evidenced in his films.
“The Wind Rises” is a tale that takes an anti-war stance. Set before the Second World War, it follows the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the lead designer of the aircraft used by Imperial Japan in the Second World War. The film touches on the cross between war and creativity. Horikoshi throughout the film had always wanted to design planes and other aircraft, and was full of creative visions. It is ironic that his breakout was when he had to design such aircraft with the goal of war and destruction; his art pieces would not elevate humanity but instead kill humanity. Agustíne Fuentes also describes something similar in her book “The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional”. One of the chapters focuses on warfare and Fuentes describes how throughout human evolution there has been a creative drive to develop weapons, from thrown rocks, to more sophisticated weapons such as bows to launch missiles. Fuenties notes, however, that all archaeological evidence suggests that violence throughout human evolutionary history has been rare, and is not some innate thing all primates possess. This is the central creative brilliance Miyazaki brings with “The Wind Rises” as he explores the tension between creativity and warfare. The tension that builds between trying to synthesize creation and destruction.
As a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's work, I like how you highlighted the activity and motion that he incorporates in his work. The way that nature can symbolize human issues is such a great point to highlight! My personal favorite example of this is the ocean bead-like water formations that have eyes in Ponyo. Miyazaki has a real knack for observing otherwise mundane motion and activity in nature and makes it absurd or supernatural in really creative and fun ways. Nature then plays an active role in the film rather than just serving as scenery.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who grew up watching Hayao Miyazaki's films, I like how you chose two films that follow two completely different narratives, but manage to encapsulate a lot of key components he uses in his work. His use of nature and movement is prominent in both films, but in "My Neighbor Totoro," it is given a more whimsical child-like nature. Specifically in the scene where Mei and Satsuki are growing their plant seedlings with Totoro, and watching the plant magically grow with their dances in chants. Whereas, in "The Wind Rises," the movement is more focused towards the sky and the air moving around the planes. Something I have always appreciated about Miyazaki's work is his use of adding important narratives into films in a subtle way. Most of his films highlight the importance of nature, and anti-war propaganda, which is super crucial to the period that these movies were created.
ReplyDeleteI love how you compared Miyazaki's films to your creative. Your comment on how war fuels creativity is fascinating and thought-provoking. I'm in a History 101 course and we talked about the different signs that a civilization is innovating including the creation of art, literature, and weapons. The overlap between creativity and war has be present for centuries. My history professor says that when people are not solely surviving, they have time to do alternatives like creation, expansion, and war. I always love the whimsy of Miyazaki's films, but also find his deeper messages so meaningful.
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