Private Vocabulary, Public Resonance
On Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58519/gwg0a370Keywords:
Pragmatism, Existentialism, Miyazaki, Narrative LogicAbstract
The latest film by Hiyao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron, unfolds in unexpected and occasionally baffling ways. The film’s second half, especially, takes place in a world that appears to abide by a distinct narrative logic than that which viewers are familiar with. I discuss this as an instance of Miyazaki creating and working within a private, authentic vocabulary, as has been described in Existentialist and Pragmatist traditions. Specifically, I analyze its filmic language as an alloy of the memories, imagined possibilities, and losses of two of its characters, and why this depiction is so affecting.
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References
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Fennessey, Sean, Amanda Dobbins, Andy Greenwald, and Charles Holmes. ‘The Boy and the Heron’ and Top Five Miyazaki Movies. Plus: An ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Deep Dive. The Big Picture, 2023. https://www.theringer.com/2023/12/13/23999424/the-boy-and-the-heron-top-five-miyazaki-movies-anatomy-of-a-fall-deep-dive.
Rorty, Richard. Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Sartre, John-Paul. “Introducing ‘Les Temps Modernes.’” In “What Is Literature?” And Other Essays, translated by Jeffrey Mehlman. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948.
Tallerico, Brian. “The Boy and the Heron Movie Review.” RogerEbert.com, December 6, 2023. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-boy-and-the-heron-movie-review-2023.
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