- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
The announcement that The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu) would be Hayao Miyazaki’s final film was bittersweet news to fans of the famed animator.
On one hand, a legacy that included modern masterpieces like My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away was coming to an end. On the other, festival-goers lucky enough to catch The Wind Rises agreed, the film was a monumental way of saying goodbye to the medium.
An imaginative, biographic collision of poet Tatsuo Hori and World War II aviator Jiro Horikoshi, The Wind Rises debuted at the 2013 Venice Film Festival before flying stateside with appearances at the Telluride Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.
In its review, The Hollywood Reporter called it, “a film about the beauty of flight and the prelude to war, whose astonishing visuals shout that life is wonderful.”
Story: Hayao Miyazaki’s Retirement Pushes ‘The Wind Rises’ Toward $100 Million in Japan
Miyazaki’s retirement has turned the critically-praised animated film into a best animated Oscar frontrunner. The writer/director previously took home the award for 2002’s Spirited Away.
The Wind Rises completed a week-long, Oscar-qualifying run in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 14. Disney’s Touchstone Pictures is planning an English-dubbed version of the film for limited release in the U.S. on February 21, with an expansion planned for the following week.
Related Stories
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day