The Wind Rises
Week #33: On a 3rd rewatch, any movie's faults will be more apparent. Here, it really stuck out to me, so much so, that I was actually bothered by it: the inhumane dialogue. Sentences don't connect, individually they're just expressing the characters' thoughts without any rhyme, without any reason as to why they would even say it out loud, bouncing from point to point. Also, the beginning is not subtle at all. Jiro's mom just casually saying "fighting is never right" and then immediately saying food is ready just irked me, and that's all because I already know where it is all heading.
But, I realized something halfway in. It doesn't matter. The Wind Rises rarely communicates any of the themes in a direct way, rather, letting the poetry of its visuals showcase what this beautiful, yet cursed dream is like for Jiro. And those moments, where I'm just left to wonder at the image, wondering what it means in the grand scheme, makes me appreciate this movie a whole lot more. It is not flawless, it is as far from that as any work can be, but it is, for the lack of a better descriptor, poetic art. For that, I can excuse any flaw, cause the way the rest makes me feel is unparalleled to any other work I've ever experienced.
Thank you, Hayao. I'll strum your work's melody as the highest thanks I will ever be able to give.