Review of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Considered to be the first Studio Ghibli film, Nausicaa Valley of The Wind is a beautiful tale of humanity trying to overcome its greed lead by fear in the face of a violent reactive mother nature. The whole film carries an environmental narrative where excessive consumption and destruction has caused the earth to deteriorate and then fight back in the form of deadly flora and arthropod fauna, while our lead protagonist “Nausicaa” an insect whisperer tries to find a way to turn every one on the same side. The Plot flows very nicely with multiple layers setting up the characters, world building and story. No, plotdevice is wasted like the giants at the beginning, the multiple factions or the prophecy, all of them get used till the end. The characters are pretty decent as well, apart from “Nausicaa” the villain and her henchmen were also portrayed well enough that even they became likable by the end. The best part I liked about the storytelling were the tiny details like during the start Nausicaa is collecting plant samples like a botanist, then she uses gun powder from a shotgun to loosen the shell after her ceramic sword can’t cut, then she casually lies down under falling petals covering her like snow. These little details flesh out the world and character building to make everything seem so real Miyazaki did a great job here.
The art style is pretty amazing as well, it has all that signature Ghibli appeal. The soft colors pallettes over desolate landscapes, big ships and Giant bugs give so much “Dune” vibes. The film also has it’s fair share of action which happens to be well animated, especially the glider scenes and final fights. Everything is polished and beyond by 1984 standards.
Overall, Nausicaa is the perfect film with the right storytelling, plot, characters, animation and most importantly message. The environmental themes of polluting the environment and its destructive effects, being driven by fear to deal with the destruction and then finally reconciling by harmonizing with nature were beautifully presented. For me this was the best Pro Environmental fantasy film I’ve ever seen.