Distributed Mind

I just finished watching Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds. With some caveats, I would say that it is an excellent movie. Or, at any rate, the themes (and the character of Nausicaä, who is a direct representative of the philosophy of the movie) are interesting and useful, the setting is interesting and beautiful, and the movie has some real and compelling emotional content. The main drawbacks, I would say, are that (1) the animation is not as refined as some of Miyazaki's more recent films (not surprisingly, given that Nausicaä was made in 1984, and Miyazaki was apparently not running his own studio back then, either), (2) many of the elements of the film - the peace loving heroine, the struggle to bring harmony between humans and nature, the air battles, for example - have been redone, debatably better, in Miyazaki's later films (though I suppose you can't blame this one for being done first). Interestingly, though I would not count this against the film, certain aspects of it seem to be rather inspired by Star Wars and Dune, among others. The Dune influence I might question, but Star Wars I was sure of at the time (can't remember now though which parts I was thinking of). But anyway, definitely worth seeing if you can find it (not easy - I had to buy it to see it, and I am a little sad about the sacrifice of a Borders gift card...)

Watching Nausicaä also had some other effects - such as convincing me that I should own some other Miyazaki films. The only one I really consider it "necessary" to own is Spirited Away but Princess Mononoke and Laputa: The Castle in the Sky might be nice too. More importantly, I decided I really want some Kurosawa films. I know Hidden Fortress is not his best film, but it was a movie I could watch frequently, which is really the only criterion that I am applying these days to movies to consider buying. I also note that the American-Japanese circle of influence of chase scenes containing Hidden Fortress, Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, and Castle in the Sky (and less so Nausicaä) is distinct, and a great example of a feedback loop. Or maybe I am just reading too much into these action scenes. Oh, and the final effect of watching this movie, is I realized how different movies like Nausicaä, Spirited Away, and even Lilo & Stitch are from movies like Underworld. They are all beautiful films to look at, but Underworld, while not entirely vapid, lacks so much of the depth, and, more importantly, conscience of these animated films. (I am not sure which set Star Wars would belong to, but it occurs to me we would be better off if Star Wars were to be contentless - it has a lot of messages that we would not do well to take seriously).

(It also occurs to me that Miyazaki work reminds me a lot of Tolkien's - or maybe more Lucas', in that respect. But Miyazaki is definitely trying to create a mythology and assimilate mythology in a way that both Tolkien and Lewis tried to do. Lucas never fully assimilated anytyhing, but his Miyazaki's presentation is similar to his.)