The latest film from Studio Ghibli is reported to be the last to have its creative head, Hayao Miyazaki, credited as director. If this proves to be the case, the master of Japanese anime behind such cherished films as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle is bowing out in style; The Wind Rises is an exquisitely animated, epic love story that is both mesmerising and moving.

It also marks a subtle shift in tone for a Studio Ghibli film, in that it dispenses with some of the more fantastical elements that characterise many of the famous family friendly films to present a fictionalised biography of the aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi, rooted in evocatively portrayed actualities of pre-World War II Japan. Despite Jiro’s abandoned ambitions to become a pilot, he is inspired by the love of his life, Nohoko, and his vivid dreams to make his mark in the skies. (Notes by Michael Hayden.)

You may also enjoy our IFI Family screening of My Neighbours the Yamadas from Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata on May 25th (11.00).

Don’t forget we now schedule weekly. 

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