The Boy and the Heron (Me) (Kids)

The Boy and the Heron is legendary animator/writer/director Hayao Miyazaki's twelfth feature, and amazingly, his first since 2013's The Wind Rises. This takes elements of many of his earlier work and tells the story of a young lad called Mihato (voiced by Soma Santoki) who moves away from Tokyo during the war after the death of his mother. His father, Shoichi (ex-SMAPper, Takuya Kimura), had wasted little time in starting a new family with Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura), the younger sister of Mahito's mum. The introduction to the new residence throws up some of the Miyazaki hallmarks - a lush rural setting, a weird encounter with nature (the heron of the title), oddly cute geriatrics, and gorgeously rendered architecture.

As soon as Mahito gets to this new abode, the grey heron starts pissing about with him - flying too close; peering in his window as he's napping; tap, tap, tapping at his chamber door (or roof, to be exact). The heron (Masaki Suda) tries to convince him (yeah, now he's speaking) to come to an eerie tower in the forest where his presumed dead mother will be waiting for him. Finally, Mahito plumps for confrontation but this only results in near suffocation by frog. So far, so bloody odd. Around this time, Natsuko also goes missing, likely in said tower, which was supposedly built by her great-uncle (Shohei Hino), who 'read too many books and went mad'. The first act (first half?) ends with Mahito and one of the old grannies, Kiriko (Kô Shibasaki) venturing into the heron's keep.

And from this point it gets even better. Miyazaki pulls out more of his magic tricks as Mahito, the heron and Kirkio get sucked through the floor into some kind of halfway world between the living and the dead. We see ghoulish oarsmen, homicidally hungry pelicans, tiny egg creatures called the Warawara, massive fish, a fire sorceress and militaristic parakeets. Yep, all correct. Great-uncle, the keeper of the tower, begins to exert more influence on the story - he needs a successor to take over the task of keeping time and space (or Ghibli itself?) balanced. No big deal, then. Apparently, the heron and great-uncle are based on fellow filmmakers, producer, Toshio Suzuki and director, Isao Takahata, respectively, though it seems the wise old geezer character pops up in many Miyazaki films, and I get the feeling it's a surrogate for the director himself.

This really is a greatest hits album, and if it is to be his last film, he's left us with a wonder. The things he does well are all here. Rain, mud, puddles, nobody animates water like this guy. The distinct way people run, the wind blowing through the grass, the stop-start, almost hesitant reactions from the characters, as well as minor moments of horror and grossness, they're all covered. 

Familiar themes are also evident - trauma related to the death of a loved one, children maturing, hope, grief, nature, adults not quite understanding kids, and birds, lots of birds. Oh, and Joe Hisaishi returns with his terrific music. A fantastic piece of work from the master, hopefully not his last.

The Boy and the Heron is showing at Luna and Palace cinemas in Perth, as well as many other screens around the country.

See also:

Miyazaki's masterpiece is still Spirited Away (2001) but this runs it close. Another great 'last' film from a maestro this year was Ken Loach's The Old Oak (2023).