The Boy and the Heron, a journey in search of perfection

Translated by Giulia Maffeis

It is not common to ponder the difference between drawing and photography. Four years ago, during my first lecture at DAMS in Bologna with a professor I already knew due to his reputation, Claudio Marra, to explain photography, said something.

He asked a class of art students, in a broad sense, about the difference between painting and photography. Many responses, more or less interesting, and many enlightening attempts, but none reached the answer: imagination. Professor Marra said - of course, I paraphrase his words to make the introduction to this article smoother - that to photograph something, you must have it in front of you, you cannot simply "imagine" it. A tree behind a wall cannot be photographed without knocking down that wall.

Setting aside any meticulous and useless comment for now, what comes to mind when I think of the great Japanese director, Hayao Miyazaki, is that this definition, in his way of making movies, becomes so narrow that it makes me think that his animation ability transcends it. Miyazaki photographs the reality of the figures he places on the screen through his imagination.

When I immerse myself in the darkness of a movie theater, and the opening credits lead me to the beginning of a Studio Ghibli film, this is the feeling I am about to experience: pure wonder and imagination.

He announced his retirement in 2013 during a press conference at the seventieth Venice Film Festival, with a crowd of journalists ready for the concluding speech of a career marked by masterpieces and social battles, characterized by frills and poetic somersaults. Miyazaki, however, presented himself with simplicity and straightforward communication.

The Boy and the Heron, which arrived in Italian cinemas on the first day of this new year, contradicts that event. As many will know, the founder and main figure of the famous Studio Ghibli actually abdicated only from feature films with that speech, not in general animation. In fact, in the summer following the conference, he began to write, draw, and revolutionize his style in short films.

From that summer onwards, he decided that progress should become part of the studio, and with the use of CGI and the Ishii studio, Kemushi no Boro was born.

The new film, however, returns to drawing and the Ghibli studio of the last century. That of Princess Mononoke and Porco Rosso, a highly successful film also for its inspiration from Italian natural landscapes.

Miyazaki wants to resume his project, his initial idea of a world, his desire for peace and perfection. Our protagonist finds himself far from Tokyo due to the war, needing to start over in a family home with a new mother and a new space to explore.

Near the house, there is a grey heron, a perfect, graceful, composed, and elegant animal that comes very close to the house, to the astonishment of the new mother. This is the first encounter, a look at the grace of the animal: something is born, the desire for exploration and discovery. A large abandoned tower is used as shelter by the animal, but it is not an ordinary tower; it is the gateway to infinity. The plot chosen by the director is simple, linear, and inevitably a journey of growth and understanding.

Un film per tutti e per spronare, soprattutto le nuove generazioni, che a detta del regista lo portavano indietro e facevano scomparire la vecchiaia, a creare un mondo migliore, più bello, ad un passo dalla perfezione.

A film for everyone and to inspire, especially the new generations, who, according to the director, bring him back and make old age disappear, to create a better, more beautiful world, on the verge of perfection.

Do not miss this opportunity; fill the cinemas in your area for one of the masterpieces of the new year.

Enjoy the viewing! Or as he would say,

視力が良い

(Shiryoku ga yoi)

Mondo Internazionale APS - All Rights Reserved ® 2023