2014-11-29, 15:42
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#164
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Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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Quote:
New York (Nov 28, 2014): In The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, a compelling documentary by Mami Sunada that sees release in New York this week, Hayao Miyazaki largely comes off well as a polite, diligent worker blessed with a stroke of genius.
But the man is also marked by moments of cynicism, resentment, and self-doubt that hint at a darkness behind his creations. "I don't ever feel happy in my daily life," he says. "How could that be our ultimate goal? Filmmaking only brings suffering."
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness focuses on Miyazaki as he works on The Wind Rises, a soaring, personal epic that he later announced would be his final feature film. In the background is his colleague and rival, Isao Takahata, who is planning to release the ethereal Tale of the Princess Kaguya on the same day as Miyazaki's movie.
The pair founded Studio Ghibli after Takahata took on Miyazaki as an apprentice; for a while they worked on animations together, but the younger Miyazaki wanted to direct his own features and soon became the bigger star.
Miyazaki doesn't hold back on his colleague, accusing him of having a personality disorder and leaving the studio in disarray. When announcing Princess Kaguya for the first time, producer Toshio Suzuki admits to reporters that Takahata has "never delivered a film on time or on budget", already knowing that the movie won't make the release date he's giving. "Takahata-san is incomprehensible. Does he not want to finish?" Suzuki later asks in exasperation.
Staff talk about how hard it can be to work under Miyazaki, but the footage of him working on storyboards, selecting and instructing voice actors, and advising artists on exactly how to convey his intended feeling shows just how astute and meticulous a director he is.
But its two-hour running time, matter-of-fact cinematography, and frequent delves into the esoteric assume some degree of knowledge regarding the subject matter, and often regarding Japan itself.
Miyazaki, for example, often embarks on extended soliloquies that are philosophical and eloquent but betray deep discomfort with the present order of things. The Fukushima disaster, for instance, has had a profound impact on his thinking.
"I'm a man of the 20th century," he tells us at one point. "I don't want to deal with the 21st."
THE VERGE
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness opens today at the IFC Center in New York City. It’ll be made available for download on Dec 9, 2014, before a DVD and video-on-demand release on Jan 27, 2015.
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