Hayao Miyazaki sensei has once again done his magic with The Boy and the Heron. The movie is getting many positive reviews from the selected countries where it was released, and it is now being called the best-animated film of 2023.
The Boy and the Heronis is also supposedly being called Hayao Miyazaki’s last movie. “Supposedly” because he said that he was retiring after this one, but it turns out someone from Studio Ghibli said that he’s already working on the next one.
However, this one really felt like it was his last film. So, The Boy and the Heron, which had the original title of “How Do You Live,” and it’s also called that in Japan.
How Do You Live is the perfect title for this movie since it perfectly encapsulates what this movie is about. However, we will call it The Boy and the Heron because that is the English name.
The Boy and the Heron Synopsis
The Boy and the Heron is about a boy Mahito who has tragically lost his mother. He and his dad moved out of Tokyo and went on to live in a more rural area. Mahito struggles with the loss of his mother and is a very quiet and keeps-to-himself kind of boy.
Mahito has trouble in school since he doesn’t get along with anybody, and he’s having this nightmare about his mom. One day, he sees this really strange Heron, very peculiar, and seems to be trying to get the attention of this boy.
He successfully gets the attention of Mahito, and basically, he enters this world of fantasy where things have seemingly no rhyme or reason, everything’s very random, strange, and magical. So yeah, let’s leave it there since if I go any further, I will give you spoilers, and I don’t want to do that.
This film reminded me of Spirited Away in the sense that it’s this young kid entering this world of fantasy, where they do a lot of self-reflection and growth, and it just had that mysterious and magical feel to it.
As you know, Spirited Away is the absolute best Studio Ghibli movie on record. So, I was really excited that this movie was kind of taking that same approach. Essentially, it’s this kid who hates the reality that he’s living in.
I mean, his mom passed away, and there are so many changes going on around him, around his life, but he’s just not really enjoying life at the moment. And that’s the Catalyst for this magical journey that he starts.
I really felt drawn to this fantasy world. It was very mysterious and a little bit creepy since you never really knew what could happen. I feel like this movie was a lot darker than previous Miyazaki films, which is why I think it reminded me of Spirited Away as well because I truly feel like Spirited Away is more on the darker side of his film, especially with no face and the fact that he turns into a very scary monster.
Best Animated Feature Film Award by the New York Film Critics Circle
On November 30, 2023, the New York Film Critics Circle was held to announce the various awards for best feature film released in 2023. In the prize distribution, The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki won the award for Best Animated Feature Film.
It was no surprise that The Boy and the Heron won this award since we already knew there was no way other films stood a chance when Studio Gilbi and Hayao Miyazaki released something.
The film has a 97% score from critics on the Rotten Tomatoes review site. It was released last week in New York and Los Angeles last week for a limited run. The film is set to release officially worldwide on December 8. GKIDS will be handling the film’s distribution.
To date, The Boy and the Heron has done an 83 million dollar gross collection in France, Spain, Turkey, Norway, Czech Republic. S. Korea, Portugal, and Japan.
In 2022, Marcel the Sell with Shoes On by Dean Fleischer Camp won the New York Film Critics Circle award for the best-animated film of 2022. However, Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro was the one who later won major awards for Best Animated Feature, including Oscar.
