...but a pretty decent movie all the same, THE WIND RISES is, like FROM UP ON POPPY HILL, a Studio Ghibli movie set in the real world and based on a true story. The film chronicles the life and times of Jiro Horikoshi, an engineer who designed the aeroplane that would be infamously used in Japan's 'kamikaze' raids in WW2.
I'm more than happy with the source material and claims of 'poor taste' regarding the real-life devastation caused by the Japanese attacks are wrong-founded: are we to whitewash history and pretend it never happened? No, what disappointed me about THE WIND RISES is the romantic sub-plot, that takes up a large part of the film. It's not twee and sickly sweet like in a Disney animation, but I did find it unnecessary and these scenes really dragged the pacing down. I wanted more engineering - how many films do we see about engineers? - not the same old.
I'm more than happy with the source material and claims of 'poor taste' regarding the real-life devastation caused by the Japanese attacks are wrong-founded: are we to whitewash history and pretend it never happened? No, what disappointed me about THE WIND RISES is the romantic sub-plot, that takes up a large part of the film. It's not twee and sickly sweet like in a Disney animation, but I did find it unnecessary and these scenes really dragged the pacing down. I wanted more engineering - how many films do we see about engineers? - not the same old.