Kung Fu Hustle

Miyazaki

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Two Films: Journey Into The West and The Wind Rises

There are two films you really must see.  One is Journey Into The West.  This is the new film by Stephen Chow, the director of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.  The plot is:

This is a world plagued by demons, who cause its human inhabitants unspeakable suffering. Young demon hunter Xuan Zang, fearlessly guided by his belief in "giving himself for the greater cause," risks his all and conquers a water demon, a pig demon and the demon of all demons, Sun Wukong. He embraces them as his disciples, and melts them with love. Meanwhile, Xuan Zang discovers the true meaning of Greater Love himself. In order to atone for their own sins and save the common people, the four of them embark on a journey to the West that's full of challenges...





The other film I would strongly recommend is The Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki.  Miyazaki is a briiliant animator who created My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.  This is the last film Miyazaki will do as he is retiring from animation.  

This film follows the career of Jiro Hirokoshi, the designer of the Zero fighter plane.  In the film, you begin to understand Miyazaki's lifelong love of flight, watching the development of concepts from inception to the drawing board to flight.  Add to this historical events like the Great Kanto Earthquake from 1923 and characters who are truly nice, polite people as most of Miyazaki's characters are, you have a family film really worth seeing.



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