In a post-apocalyptic world, nature rises against human cruelty. Hayao Miyazaki’s film, which led to the launch of Studio Ghibli.
A thousand years after a global war, the face of planet Earth has changed dramatically. Its water and soil are contaminated, and most of the land is covered with a dense toxic forest. Giant insects live in the forest and huge mushrooms grow and release spores that expand its territory and displace human settlements. At the edge of the forest lies the Valley of the Wind, a kingdom where people worship the wind, which protects them from the toxic spores and provides them with energy. The princess of the valley, Nausicaä, is looking for a way to make peace with nature, but the inhabitants of the neighboring kingdoms have other plans and want to destroy the forest with a biological weapon.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is Hayao Miyazaki’s first project as a director and is based on his own manga. It was also one of the first feature-length animated films to reflect on the human environment: environmental issues, the impact of military conflicts, and the consequences of humans using weapons of mass destruction. When Miyazaki started working on the screen adaptation of his manga, the famous Studio Ghibli did not yet exist. It emerged from the success of Nausicaä. The project also brought Miyazaki together with his regular collaborators: producer and future director of Grave of the Fireflies Isao Takahata and composer Joe Hisaishi. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind also launched the career of Hideaki Anno, the future director of Neon Genesis Evangelion, who drew the scenes with the biological weapon and mutant nature.
The film will be screened in Japanese with Russian subtitles.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Japan, 1984. 117 min. 16+