The venerated filmmaker and legend of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, has revealed his movie career is not over just yet, despite previously going into retirement. In a recent interview, 80-year-old Miyazaki confirmed he is making one more feature-length project.
Miyazaki has form when it comes to announcing his retirement: the first time came in the late ‘90s before he returned to Studio Ghibli with the story idea for Spirited Away, which won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated feature (and which, incidentally, is being made into a stage musical). He announced his retirement from the business again in 2013 before going on to make a short film titled Earwig and the Witch with his son, Goro Miyazaki, for the Ghibli Museum. He then announced in 2018 that he would be coming out of retirement once more, and this recent interview is just confirmation of the result of this. Throughout his multiple announcements of retiring and returning, Hayao Miyazaki has directed 11 features in 34 years.
The confirmation came as part of a rare interview Hayao Miyazaki gave to The New York Times. When asked why he made this decision, he replied in a typically blunt fashion, “Because I wanted to.” He has apparently been working on the new feature for the past four years, and it still has some way to go. He was tight-lipped about the details of the new movie but divulged that it will be based on a 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino called How Do You Live?. Reportedly Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite book, the novel centers on a 15-year-old boy in Tokyo whose father has recently passed away. When asked if the film will carry the same title, Hayao Miyazaki did not answer in the affirmative. Going on to speak about answering the question of the title in the movie's subject matter, he added, “I am making this movie because I do not have the answer.”
The celebrated filmmaker did not give much information for his interpretation of the novel, so it is unclear how closely he will follow the source material. The novel itself encompasses many themes as its central character deals with poverty, spiritual growth, and the general experience of being a human, written in a way that explores different perspectives. Based on Hayao Miyazaki's previous masterful storytelling, fans can likely expect a deeply meditative and philosophical journey paired with beautifully intricate animation. Hayao Miyazaki rarely disappoints; Studio Ghibli co-founder and producer Toshio Suzuki has described the upcoming film as “fantasy on a grand scale.”
Though there are many Studio Ghibli movies not directed by Hayao Miyazaki, his films are the most loved. The last feature film he directed was The Wind Rises in 2013, which was a fictionalized biography of Jiro Horikoshi, the Japanese aviation engineer who created the A6M World War II fighter plane.
Previously seen as his “swan song,” the film was highly praised by critics and garnered many accolades, including one Oscar nomination. With no confirmation of an end date for production or a release window for his upcoming effort, expectant fans will have to exercise Hayao Miyazaki-levels of patience to see if this next movie will reach the dizzying heights of his previous.
Hayao Miyazaki's next Studio Ghibli film is currently in development.
Source: The New York Times