The Boy and the Heron 2023

A little boy who lost his mother in a fire is tormented by Danny De Vito disguised as a heron. The original title is taken from a Japanese novel from the thirties, but the film's plot is actually a loose adaptation of John Connolly's "The Book of Lost Things." Needless to say, we’re embarking on another journey into a fantastic world full of references and metaphors that only Miyazaki understands without caring about his audience. We’re asked to find our own interpretation, and personally, I saw it more as a tribute to the works that inspired Miyazaki over the years rather than mere references to his own films, as if he is pointing out that each generation’s narrative and cultural baggage are a product of the previous, in a continuous passing of the torch.

The first part, laid-back and contemplative, oddly left a stronger impression on me, aided by the beautiful music and landscapes. However, once the magical journey began, I found the whole thing extremely cloying and narratively disjointed. Certainly, there are various fascinating sceneries and memorable moments, but the whole picture failed to convince me. In short, my basic review of most of Ghibli’s films.

Will be really interesting to see how this is gonna be received here in the west. It's a weird one. Couldn't help myself to actually feel disappointed after the credits rolled, and a lot of people in the audience felt the same way. It's super vague, the story jumps constantly, new ideas and (seemingly) new plotlines are constantly opened but never resolved. It's confusing. And because of this, I just never really cared about any of the characters. Which is something that usually never happens to me in a Ghibli film...no emotional attachement whatsoever. After sleeping over it and reading some reviews and interepretations from Japan, I can accept and respect the film much more now. It's a supposedly final goodbye from Miyazaki, a potpourrie of his ideas and visions, a micro-history of Ghibli itself. It's fine. But it's not for me and probably a lot of other people. But that's okay.

There are ratings before the release? Damn the time travelers are busy.

I think this will be a controversial movie. The story is about grief and can only be understood if you take it as an allegory. If you try to understand it at face value, you will be confused and disappointed, like some of the commenters here. By the way, this is kind of storytelling is not that far fetched from Ghibli movies, but this is certainly not as easy to consume as Totoro, for example. As someone who lost two parents a year ago, this was highly emotional for me and it made a lot of sense.

I could not stay awake or fall asleep. Son 11 and daughter 19 who are both Gibli fans and have seen all of the movies did not like it. I did not like it much either but in its defense I prefer the action Gibli like Nononoke or Nausica rather than the artsier ones like Spirited, Castle etc.

Why did the mean parakeet destroy the world? ):

I don’t feel like I’m stupid, I enjoy cerebral movies, nonlinear plot lines, metaphors, and references. This movie felt like a portmanteau of unfulfilled ideas with no clear message. Is it about grief? Kind of but not really. Is it about moving on? Kind of but not really. Rejecting destiny? Kind of but not really.

There’s no clear theme, message, goal or plot. I asked the stranger next to me in the theater if she got it as soon as the credits rolled and she said no.

Feel like this didn’t connect for me as much as it did everyone else. I thought that the animation was gorgeous. I ended up seeing the English dub and I thought it was OK. Some audio performances were noticeably bad at times. Robert Patterson was really good though and I can’t believe it was him. I thought that the film was just a little confusing to me and I struggled to grasp all the grandiose ideology that was going on, it also felt a little boring at times but not to a point where I was taking out of it. Maybe on a rewatch will help it click more.

I’m evidently too stupid to enjoy or understand this. I was confused as duck the whole movie. Pass.

Even though I've only seen two Miyazaki films before this (Nausicaä and The Wind Rises), I still felt like a I had a pretty good idea of what to expect and thought I would enjoy this one. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Way too abstract for my tastes. Didn't feel like a cohesive story and I didn't connect to any of the characters. You can have the cutest, most impressive animation in the world, but if the story and characters aren't working, it just feels empty. Once we enter the tower, all semblance of relatable story-telling is jettisoned and instead we get a random collection of "wouldn't it be cool if..." visual ideas in service of vague thematic elements. Clearly I'm in the minority here, but this one was just not for me.

It feels as though there are messages the movie is trying to convey or emotions it wants to evoke but the story is so sparse and meandering that I felt as though I was watching a series of beautifully animated shorts with minimal relation rather than a singularly orchestrated piece. With other Ghibli movies the world felt as though it was living and breathing this one feels like the ghost of a world with disparate locations and creatures existing in a void. Even the music which is typically brimming with rich texture and melody was minimal and thin.

Ultimately I found myself unmoved

The beautiful fabric of this story is woven together in such a sparse way that no clear piece comes to fruition, only conjuring weak impressions

Another work of visual and aural art par excellence by the famed Studio Ghibli. Do not come in expecting linear, standard plot or narrative because the movie does not bother with it. It is entirely based on vibes and is mostly an allegorical tale of overcoming grief and sparing the next generation the sins of the past and leaving them to build themselves a better future. A lot of the themes beyond the personal struggles of a young, lost boy are fairly explicitly anti-war and anti-nationalism with the writer pushing for the new generation to imagine a world beyond what the ancestors of yore struggled created.

The pacing could have used some tightening since almost all of the first half is very slow setup that soaks in WW2 era countryside Japan which is only tolerable because of the beautiful, signature Ghibli aesthetic. The second half picks up and never really stops until the very end and this could have been two thirds of the movie with a shorter runtime. I can't say I was ever really bored but I did find myself wondering when the movie would move to the next major plot point for a significant chunk.

Too heavy for a boy to take care of the world while looking for his mother.

Oscar Oscar Oscar Oscar Oscar

Another Studio Ghibli masterpiece that blew me away with the incredible world building, beautiful artistry, and deeply loveable (and comical) characters. In this film we follow our protagonist through his journey of healing, self-discovery, and adventure when he moves to the countryside, after his mother is killed in WWII, and meets an eccentric Heron that tricks him into a magical castle that holds entire worlds within its walls. Every frame of this film was a work of art and it is hands down one of the best Ghibli films to date.

Excellent backgrounds, a bit less nice the characters drawings. The film itself is a sequence of symbols, like a Murakami novel without the narrative parts. You may really need to "ask the expert" to fully understand what is happening in the film. Good that movies like this are made, as we lack deep products nowadays, but I seriously doubt that even in Japan the average audience would be able to understand most of what happens, maybe too exaggerated overall.

It's definitely sitting next to Howl's Moving Castle in the category of Ghibli movies labeled "I didn't know what was going on, but I enjoyed it". The English voice cast is absolutely stellar, too.

This was an odd one. Was really looking forward to this latest Ghibli production but the story felt disjointed at times. It was beautifully done and the music was gorgeous and the story was generally nice too, the plot just felt like it was jumping to different plots from time to time.

Please don't judge me but this was the first Studio Ghibli movie that I've seen. I know that's bad.

Simply Amazing and considering it my first, I instantly understand the prestigious nature of Hayao Miyazaki's work from the beautiful animation and especially the storytelling. I loved the animation, the pacing was spot on and the music was gorgeous. The reasoning as to why it's not a perfect movie for me is that, during the second act I felt slightly confused as to where and what was going on so it was a little bit vague. I watched the dubbed (English) version and what a great voice cast they had, I recognized all of them throughout the movie.

Amazing but honestly definitely isn't the best animated movie of 2023.

Good but probably too abstract and allegorical to work for most people. It maybe could’ve used a stronger start, however once the adventure part gets introduced it was firing on all cylinders for me. There’s just so much visual creativity, emotion and substance here. All of that combined with the fantastic score and beautiful hand drawn animation make this an easy recommendation, though maybe watch it once you've finished all of Miyazaki's other works.

7/10

It should come as no surprise that "The Boy and the Heron" is a visually stunning film. After all, nothing else is to be expected from director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. This obviously very personal work by Miyazaki is imaginative, creepy in places, and also very atmospheric overall. The wonderfully animated characters are varied and captivate the audience. However, I have to add that the movie has a few lengths before it finally dives more and more into fantastical realms. And I wasn't always totally enthralled, either. Ultimately, however, it is a well-rounded and satisfying movie experience.

Rated a Connor 5, normal 7.6

As expected it is absolutely beautiful, the characters and the plot are both very good too. The world is intersting and full of surprises, so exploring it through out the movie was a blast! The message is a bit confusing to me. I knew it wanted to say something, but I had a hard time seeing what exactly. It made much more sense after reading some 'reviews' and 'interpretations', but I can't say I would ever come up with those ideas by myself. Altough that might just be my and not the movies fault. Even without fully understanding the movie, it is fun and engaging.

Interesting to read the polarizing response, especially since that’s how I feel about it, personally polarized whether I enjoyed this or not.

Both my partner and I had the exact same feeling about it on the drive home, it certainly feels like there’s a bigger allegory or metaphor happening, but whatever it was is completely lost on us. For a timeline bending multiverse fantasy world, it could have had a more obvious narrative, but in the end felt like just a highlight real of imaginative animation (which is great as expected).

Also first half of the film could have either a.) been cut in half or b.) been time used for better world building in the tower. The first part of the movie is so drawn out I was concerned I wouldn’t even make it awake through the whole movie with the rate it was pacing.

I definitely understood it all, that’s for sure

Beautiful artwork as always. And another weird way to communicate and interact with other worlds. Typical ghibli flick..