Nausicaa of the valley of the wind

Last Wednesday night I happened to be feeling a bit under the weather around approximately 10pm and was having a good old flick through the stations. I happened to come across an anime movie on SBS. So I started watching and within five minutes I was blown away by the sheer creativity, scope and quality of animation. Not to mention the absolutely brilliant concept and environmental message. When the credits came on it turned out Uma Thurman. Mark Hamill and Spielberg whore Shia LeBouef had voiced the main characters. Needless to say my interest was well and truly sparked by this gem of a film and the next day I sought out to discover what it was called. The movie was called Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or Kaze no tani no Naushika in Japanese which is the language it first appeared in 1984. WTF? 1984! It’s been a week since then and I still can’t believe a film of this standard was made in the early eighties. It is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!

Nausicaa was made by a lad called Hayao Miyazaki a Japanese director, screenwriter, character designer and legend. The story is too complex to explain but in a nutshell (help, I’m a giant nutshell) it’s about pacifist, warrior princess Nausicaa who leaves in the post apocalyptic Valley of the Wind. The rest of the world has sort of been taken over by giant insects and a toxic jungle with only a handful of human colonies surving. Obviously the film has strong environmentalist undertones which, considering its release date, are well before its time. As it turns out SBS are screening Hayao Miyazaki’s films every Wednesday night at 10.05pm. If you’re a night owl then I suggest you tune in to these because they are fan-freaking-tastic. Tonight his 1986 creation Laputa: Castle in the Sky is on. Anna Paquin and James Van Der Beek (aka Dawson) voice the two main characters. If you want to know more about the plot before you commit yourself to viewing read up on it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky
Be sure to check out these movies. Personally, I found them so incredible my tiny brain nearly imploded. Alas, I survived and am now preaching to you. Go young grass hoppers, worship at the altar of Miyazaki.

FYI this fella is also behind the more well known creations Howl’s Moving Castle, Porco Rosso and the Academy Award winning Spirited Away.