So here we will discuss Nausicaa of the Valley Wind
Discussion Prompts:
Here's some prompts you may respond to if you want. You, of course, don't have to respond to the prompts and can just say whatever is on your mind about the story. However if you're drawing a blank hopefully responding to a prompt will incite some meaningful discussion.
1. This film, like some of Miyazaki's other works, is kinda aimed at kids but also kinda not. It's a lot more violent than I remembered it, for instance. How does it work as a kid's film, thematically or otherwise? How does it hold up aimed at adults?
2. Are there any evil characters in the film? Nausicaa strives for peace and reconciliation throughout the movie. Is she fighting against "evil" forces or just misguidedness?
Voting material for the next installment
Like last time, we will draw material from the current list we have collected. If you want it to be picked, try and draw others to your side in the discussion section.
Blindsight - Free to download, but not exactly short. An amazing book though and it goes by fast. Very much loaded with material to discuss.
Golem xiv by Stanislaw Lem
Forbidden Planet
2001
The Day the Earth Stood Still
I, Robot (book)
kleinbl00 JakobVirgil eightbitsamurai mhr OftenBen plewemt elizabeth blackbootz flagamuffin Meriadoc minimum_wage
Oh yeah, it's gold if you like the harder side of sci-fi. Hardness in science fiction, like hardness in reality, is a thing of degrees (as I'm sure you are probably aware). If diamond hard is, say, a technical manual for a warp-drive or some currently impossible thing, and the first episode of Star Trek the series is the hardness of old growth redwood, then the Mars series is hovering in the gold hardness region. It's malleable and easy to dent if you must, but it's heavy and will crush your skull a bit if you hit yourself in the head with it all at once. I did Red Mars, took a break for a couple of books, then Green Mars, etc. Hope you check it out, I'd love to discuss here!
So this time I also watched the Dub version which was actually pretty good. It was pretty fun to watch with the English cast: Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman, Edward James Olmos... Shia LaBeouf. I've also been watching BSG, so that puts a whole new spin on Adama. Overall the English cast was great considering a lot of dubs have surprisingly awful voice acting. I'd recommend it.
So this is one of the last pieces in Miyazaki's oeuvre that I've seen, and I must say, it's not my favorite. Not even in the top half. Maybe it has to do with some sort of evolution of the tropes and techniques Miyazaki used over his career, but I find that Nausicaa is a rough draft of Laputa, or Castle in the Sky So many similar veins, even the machines from 1000+ years ago look the same. But by the end of the film, it felt like everything was being randomly thrown into a mixing pot to make an "ending." It felt too scattered. One of my favorite scenes was with Nausicaa leaving the valley and promising the little girls she would return. I felt how noble the idea of loyalty to a monarch could have possibly been (under ideal circumstances). It must've been cool a few hundred years ago to have sworn yourself to monarch who, instead of being crazy or evil due to inbreeding, inevitably, was actually someone you could really stand behind -- like Nausicaa, who immediately and spontaneously risks her life for the good of her people. I'm now thinking about fealty, how interesting it must be. How many people have lived and died loyal to another person. As for next round, Blindsight seems interesting. I read a few reviews and would like to give it a whorl. Very hard looking science fiction.
Count me in for I, Robot, just because I want to see the discussion on 'The Brain' sections. As for Nausicaa, I don't have much to say beyond it's a beautiful story, beautiful art, and holds up well to time, like most childrens stories. (Even though it's really not a childrens story)
The music in this movie was really something amazing, as is expected from Joe Hisaishi: Some really great stuff here. This was my first experience with a Miyazaki/Ghibli film, and rewatching it made me appreciate it more. I should probably get on watching the rest of his stuff sometime soon.
As for prompts... 1. I think it's actually pretty good as a kid's movie all around. You have a clear set of people to root for and the show says its piece simply and beautifully enough for a kid to understand. I think kids can appreciate the setting and it just has a very whimsical feel (Even the music exhudes this wonderland feel to it) even with some of heavier imagery and stuff. 2. I don't think so. There are right and wrong people though, the people being in harmony with nature being painted as right. My takeaway from this film is: Take care of nature or else nature will take care of you! Also, I really dig the design of the Ohms. Japan just has a knack for creating cool looking creatures.
I liked the dub. First time I've watched this to completion. Fairly predictable, but enjoyable all the same. Nausicaa is such a badass - I'd say she's my favorite female protagonist ever. Miyazaki has always been pretty good about having solid Female characters. I got a very distinct vibe of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, and a Link to the Past with the aesthetics. It's very pretty. All in all, it's cool how well a film that's thirty years old has still stood the test of time with straight A marks. I'd be down to read Blindsight, but if anybody's looking for other things to watch, I was thinking Blade Runner (if that hasn't already been done), or Madoka Magica. The latter is...interesting to say the least, one of my favorite Anime series of this past decade, and I just watched the third movie. But I'm not sure how popular of a choice that would be. Whatever you do, though, DON'T LOOK ANYTHING UP ABOUT IT. I'm serious about that.
I quite liked this one. Watched the sub, as I like to watch originals (and it's easier to follow subs than dubs for me). It surprised me that this movie is now 30 years old, I really didn't expect that. Beautifully drawn and imaginative landscapes. The sound effects were lovely old school though. On the first prompt: the only aspect in which I recognized that it was aimed at children was the plot buildup. Wasn't too hard to predict how the plot would unfollow. And it's basically 'work with nature, y'all'. Still, a touching story. I really liked the ending.