Studio Ghibli Thoughts: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

 

Although not officially a Studio Ghibli movie, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki, was the start of the partnership that created it, and is in style and purpose clearly part of that studio's canon. The result of that partnership was one of the most important Anime movies of all time.

You can reliably trace Nausicaä's influence to a significant number of Anime moves and series that sprang after it, and even in the then-nascent videogame's scene. Its wealth of imagination, the complexity of world-building, and brilliant soundtrack were probably early influences of a genre that depended on adapting existing properties and ideas instead of developing its own.

Besides its undoubted influence, Nausicaä is just a brilliant movie on its own. That's obvious in the first 10 minutes or so when the titular character is silently exploring the Sea of Decay. By then, you should understand that the world went to hell after a horrific war and that what sprang from that hell was a toxin-spewing forest inhabited by massive mutated insects, who are not as horrific as that sounds. In her silent exploration of the forest, Nausicaä finds the shell of the biggest and most important insect species, the Ohms, and she showcases how her community leverages the Sea of Decay for resources despite its threats.

Those threats are then put into sharp focus with the movie's first big action scene-the driving line of the Joe Hisaishi music when the charging Ohm first appears is the progenitor of nearly every JRPG battle theme-but Nausicaä's powers of empathy are highlighted as she calms the giant insect as she strives to preserve the natural order of life.

What happens later, as the conflicts of man against man, and man against nature, is a classic Miyazaki story where there are no clear moral lines, even if Nausicaä is more clumsy with that concept than in his later works. Maybe at this stage, Miyazaki felt he needed to spell things out, as the movie also has uncharacteristically expositional dialogue when the scenes and animation have clearly stated the point.

These rough edges in storytelling are one reason people feel like this movie was the first draft of the brilliant Princess Mononoke, and that's something I felt myself. However, that doesn't diminish this work at all, which I think is probably Miyazaki in his most inventive form along with his work on Spirited Away, which is why I consider this a Top-Tier Studio Ghibli film.

P.S: One thing to be noted in this film considering the current geopolitical climate is the concepts of mercy, empathy, and the cycle of violence. While the environment is going to hell, the people of Nausicaä's world focus on how to dominate each other, going deeper into a cycle of vengeance and retribution. Looking at it as an observer, you can see that their society would be doomed both morally and practically if that cycle doesn't stop, and that's where Nausicaä comes in, forgoing her right of vengeance for the greater good. It may be a simplistic take, but I believe it to be the only moral take when looking at resolving any conflict.