Review of The Wind Rises

The Wind Rises is a Studio Ghibli film that takes the audience through the life of Jirou, a Japanese aeronautical engineer whose life mission was to create beautiful airplanes. The film begins with a devastating natural disaster—an earthquake the mimics the one that occurred in Japan. The entire film is based in reality, and touches on historical events such as Japan’s earthquakes, as well as the World War. Throughout the movie, we see Jirou’s passion for making planes grow and grow, and it seems as if his entire life is consumed with this passion. Jirou later meets a girl who he falls in love withand marries, and this relationship really highlights just how obsessed with plane-making Jirou is. Throughout the film, there are dream sequences that give the viewer more insight into Jirou’s mind and psyche; these dreams often feature his inspiration, another aeronautical engineer from Italy. While the film does have beautiful visuals, it seems like the entire two hours is filled with a story about airplanes. If you're interested in aeronautical engineering and planes, then this is a great movie to watch. However, if you're not interested in that subject matter—you may be better off picking another film.