‘The Boy and The Heron’ a confusing story about grief

Hayao Miyazaki’s 2023 film “The Boy and the Heron” is a semi-autobiographical film that drew the renowned director out of retirement. Released in November of last year, the film spent approximately seven years in production. 

The film follows the story of a young boy, Mahito Maki as he deals with grief over losing his mother. Miyazaki himself lost his mother to illness at a young age and his father worked to build warplanes, just as Mahito’s father does in the movie. Mahito is based on young Miyazaki and the movie itself is filled with cameos from the director’s biggest influences. 

Mahito goes to live with his aunt or his new stepmother in a world similar to that of Totoro. He meets a heron who follows him around, although he is not a friend. When his aunt goes missing, Mahito follows her tracks into the woods with the heron and one of the property’s groundskeepers, entering into a strange world between the living and the dead. It is here where he goes on most of his adventures, meeting and making both friends and enemies along the way.

Miyazaki’s work does not pale in comparison to his past films. The weirdness and unpredictability of previous movies he directed are prominent in this one as well. The animation is stunningly mind-blowing, with beautiful animations of nature and creative creatures. The way that the characters and the world around them came alive immediately drew me into the world that I was watching. It was deeply imaginative and had many layers that involved not only characters but also time periods. 

The soundtrack only added to the animation as it fit perfectly with the film. The music was produced by Joe Hisaishi, who worked on many Miyazaki films in the past. The work that went into the film made me feel nothing but awe about the time, energy, and artistic ability needed to complete the movie. 

Like most movies that Miyazaki directed, “The Boy and the Heron” is filled with adorable creatures that make the audience laugh. Much like the rest of the story, their relevance wasn’t always understood but the movie did stay true to the classic Studio Ghibli characteristic. 

However, the plot of the movie was very unclear and throughout the whole showing, I was confused about what the storyline was. I found that a few of the adventures that Mahito went on during the film were irrelevant to the plot and were unnecessary in the long run. 

Early on in the movie, Mahito commits an act of self-harm, slamming a rock into the side of his head. The reasoning was unclear and was never brought up again, leaving me confused. 

Mahito befriends a heron, as well, who seems to be a man trapped in the body of a bird. The bird guides him through the land that he falls into but is not an essential character, contradictory to what the name of the film made me think. 

There was no room to breathe during the movie due to its fast pace. I was constantly confused as to how we got to where we were and why they were there. I also found that the ending was rather sudden, leaving me wanting more. The movie itself lasted 2 hours and 4 minutes but in my opinion, it could have been cut down by removing some of the scenes and slowing down some of the others.

On the other hand, the confusing nature of the story added to the grief that Maki was experiencing. The world that Mahito fell into seemed to be a dreamland filled with memories of his mother and weird creatures he was forced to run from. The anger and sadness that he felt came through the screen and added to the strangeness of the movie, adding a possible explanation for Mahito’s moment of self-harm. 

Personally, I was let down in terms of the plot. The animation was out of this world and definitely falls on my list of most beautiful animated movies; however, the story disappointed me. Knowing that it was a semi remnant of Miyazaki’s child added another layer to the film which I appreciated, although I still would rather have a clearer understanding of what was happening. I will say that I have seen many of Miyazaki’s movies many times and was unable to experience this movie without comparing it to his past films, which I believe was not a great quality when watching.

Despite how confusing I found the plot, and that there were more scary moments, characters, and emotions than I expected going into it (making the movie less suitable for kids of younger ages), I did find the overall movie plainly beautiful. 

The simplistic quality of Studio Ghibli movies paired with the calming piano soundtrack made for an enjoyable viewing experience. If you are a fan of unexplainable and unpredictable movies, “The Boy and the Heron” is well worth watching.