The Boy and the Heron

A boy enters a magical world with a talking grey heron after finding an abandoned tower in his new town.

THE SCREENING IS SOLD OUT

When the king of the famous animation studio Studio Ghibli announced in 2013 that his new film, The Wind Rises, would be his last, a sigh of sorrow echoed among fans worldwide. The director behind masterpieces like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. Until rumors began swirling in 2016 that he had created 20 minutes of a storyboard for a new film, loosely based on the novel How Do You Live? written by author Genzaboru Yoshino. The new film was then released in Japan earlier this year without any form of pre-marketing and became his highest-grossing film ever. It says a lot about what we can expect in a film described as his most personal and visionary work to date.

As in The Wind Rises, we are taken back to World War II, where we meet 12-year-old Mahito. He wakes up in the middle of the night in his own bed to people screaming outside his room, and it turns out that the hospital where his mother works is hit by a massive fire. He rushes to the hospital but already knows deep down that she is gone. In the aftermath of the tragedy, his father decides to move to the countryside and remarry with his mother's younger sister. However, a dark void grows inside Mahito, making him angry and frustrated with himself. He doesn't fit in at his new school and ends up forging his own path. A whole new world reveals itself when a gray heron, which has been following him since he moved to the new place, tells him that his mother is still alive. The answers may lie in a mysterious tower not far from where he lives.

Visually and narratively, this is Miyazaki at his very best, with colors, visual compositions, the music of the great composer Joe Hisaishi, and all the personal layers in the story that truly appeal to a rich emotional experience for you as a viewer. This will undoubtedly be the film experience of the year.

Lasse Skagen

Director

Hayao Miyazaki (b. 1941) is the most highly respected director of animation films still living today. He has had a fruitful cooperation with Takahata Isao since 1971, and since 1985, they have run the famous Studio Ghibli from which he released his most famous films such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001) and Ponyo (2008).

This film is part of