Currently playing at the Toronto International Film Festival, Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s The Wind Rises has been announced to be distributed in North America. In the past, Disney has released many recent and preceding titles by the the renowned studio and director before Gkids released the Goro and Hayao Miyazakis’ From Up On Poppy Hill earlier this year. Official details regarding screening dates, English cast, and MPRAA rating are to be revealed at a later time.
Based on the novel written by Tatsuo Hori called Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Has Risen), Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises is a biopic on the life of Jiro Hirokoshi (voiced by Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno), who designed the Zero fighter jets for the Japanese war effort in World War II, including the Mitsubishi A6M Zero that was used for kamikaze operations and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The film opened in Japan at July 20th, and was both a commercial success and a subject to controversy for its political implications against the conservative right, drawing a lot of fire by nationalists online.
Additionally, The Wind Rises has been under fire by the Japan Society of Tobacco Control for its pervasive depiction of smoking, especially at select scenes where it was deemed unnecessary. Though this hasn’t stopped Disney, which banned depictions of smoking in their movies in 2007, from getting distribution rights for the movie, it is up to question whether they will change, omit, or leave these scenes intact.
But in light of the controversy surrounding this movie, it’s getting released by a company that has been very good to Studio Ghibli films for many years, and it will be embraced by fans and enthusiasts alike.
