Film: The Boy and the Heron (Japanese with English Subtitles)
Cast (Voices): Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Shōhei Hino, Ko Shibasaki, Kaoru Kobayashi, Juin Kunimura
Writer/Director:  Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: 3.5/5
Runtime: 124 min

Japanese Master animator Hayao Miyazaki’s (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) latest, The Boy and the Heron, is yet another great work that is both visually impressive and emotionally resonant. Among the greatest artists alive, director Hayao Miyazaki, already has an impeccable legacy that the world appreciates. The Boy and the Heron marks Miyazaki’s return after a ten-year hiatus, ostensibly, to make a film for his grandchildren to remember him by.The story which appears to have autobiographical components, is a little too deep for the regular animation film target groups. The complicated narrative seamlessly delves on childhood issues dealing with loss of a parent, other familial bonds, and adapting to a major displacement.

Set during World War II, we see in the opening minutes itself, a fire engulfing the hospital where Mahito’s mother works as a nurse. We then see the young Mahito racing through the Tokyo streets, ignoring the words of his father, in hopes of getting to the hospital in time to save his mother. But it’s too late. Mahito, thereafter has to deal with his father getting married to his mother’s sister, Natsuko and their consequent move to her estate out in the country. Out there, Mahito is heckled by a grey heron that keeps poking at him incessantly. The heron  speaks to the young Mahito, telling him that he knows that his mother is still alive. He follows the bird into the woods and discovers an abandoned, sealed tower. Then one fine day, Natsuko goes missing. Mahito suspects the heron is in the know of her disappearance. He decides to go into the forbidden tower to seek answers.