It won the Oscar and divided audiences like no Ghibli film before. Is it Miyazaki's most profound, layered work — or a self-indulgent puzzle that forgot to be enjoyable?
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Add your commentIt's a film about Miyazaki making peace with death and his legacy. If that didn't move you, you weren't watching the same movie I was.
It's the most personal film Miyazaki ever made and people called it 'confusing' because it didn't hold their hand. That's on the audience, not him.
Winning the Oscar over more accessible films felt like a lifetime-achievement award disguised as a Best Animated win. Be honest.
Most 'misunderstood masterpiece' films are just films the fandom is too proud to call boring. This might be the rare real one though.
A victory lap can still be a masterpiece. Both things are true and this thread can't handle that nuance.
The parakeets are either the dumbest or the most brilliant thing he's ever put on screen and I genuinely can't decide which.
Self-indulgent? It's an 82-year-old genius's final statement. He's EARNED some indulgence, my god.
I love Ghibli and I was BORED. There, I said it. Beautiful frames stitched onto a plot that wanders nowhere for two hours.
It rewards a second viewing more than almost any film I've seen. The 'boring' crowd watched it once and tapped out.
The first 30 minutes are the best animation of his career. The last 60 lost me completely. Half a masterpiece.
The grand-uncle building a fragile world and asking the boy to inherit it IS Miyazaki handing over Ghibli. Once you see it you can't unsee it.
I respect it more than I enjoyed it, and I think that's the most honest thing anyone can say about this film.
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