Hayao Miyazaki's final Ghibli film

The tireless man

Hayao Miyazaki sat in front of a cast-iron fireplace, with the windows half open on either side. Sunlight streamed through the branches of the trees outside, and three red apples sat on the mantelpiece. He wore a white apron with a string around his neck and a single button on the left breast—the same apron he had worn for years, while writing, painting, and going out.

That’s what Ligaya Mishan, a reporter for the New York Times, saw in the frame when he met and talked with Hayao Miyazaki. Ironically, this rare interview took place via a computer screen (due to Covid-19 restrictions) – a machine the artist himself has chosen to shun, and almost all of his works are devoid of any high-tech gadgets.

Miyazaki lives with his wife, Akemi, a former animator. They first met at Toei Animation nearly 60 years ago, while working on the filmGulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon(Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon), and married in 1965.

In 1998, Miyazaki built a small house in Koganei, a suburb of Tokyo, just a short walk from Studio Ghibli headquarters. The house served as Miyazaki's "retirement office," a place where he could work on his personal projects. He sometimes affectionately referred to it as his "pigsty" (he loved pigs, and often sketched himself as one). Also in 1998, he announced that he would retire from filmmaking, andPrincess Mononoke(Princess Mononoke) was his last film. But a year later, he returned to Studio Ghibli with an idea for a story.Spirited Away(Land of the Spirits).Spirited AwayIt became the highest-grossing film in Japanese history at the time, winning the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

In 2013, Hayao Miyazaki decided to retire once again, after completing the filmThe Wind Rises(The Wind Rises). But three years later, in 2016, he returned to Ghibli to "work on one last project," a film that had been in the works for 20 years, about "a tiny caterpillar so small it could be held between two fingers" -Boro the Caterpillar(Boro the Caterpillar).

The Japanese media calls Hayao Miyazaki "the tireless man." And, surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, Hayao Miyazaki is still here, making another film.

“Because I want to,” he smiled. Everyone, once again, said that this was his last animation project.

Only one minute of film is completed each month.

Miyazaki doesn't like to frame his work in terms of clear ideological or moral points. The purpose of his films, Miyazaki says, is to "comfort you, to fill a void in your heart, or in your daily life." Neither Miyazaki nor Suzuki have shared much about the upcoming film, other than that it's based on a novel.How do you live?1937 by writer Genzaburo Yoshino.

The story is about 15-year-old Junichi Honda living in Tokyo with his uncle, and they face problems in everyday life. Throughout the novel are human values, life lessons through each note that the uncle writes for Junichi. However, Hayao Miyazaki said that the film will not be a complete adaptation of the novel, but a version full of imagination, "a vast magical world".

Toshio Suzuki says there is no deadline for the project. While the Covid-19 pandemic has not affected production, there is still a long way to go before the film is actually completed.

“The Studio Ghibli team still does hand-drawing, it takes us longer because we have to draw more frames. When producing the filmMy Neighbor Totoro“(My Neighbor Totoro) in 1988, we had only 8 animators, and finished it in 8 months. For the current film, we have 60 animators, but we can only produce 1 minute per month. That means after 12 months, we can draw 12 minutes of film,” Suzuki shared. He hopes to finish the film by 2024.

Drawing every frame by hand is the way Hayao Miyazaki makes his films. Unlike Walt Disney, the only other figure of equal stature in the field of animation, Miyazaki, now 80, has never stepped back from the role of CEO of the company. Since 1985, when he founded Studio Ghibli with filmmakers Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, Hayao Miyazaki has worked with everyone. He is part of a team of about 100 dedicated employees. To be fair, his desk is not much bigger than anyone else's. He still draws most of the frames in each film by hand, which can number in the tens of thousands. Only occasionally does he use computer-generated imagery, and most of the time without the full support of technology.

“I believe that an animator's tool is the pencil,” he said.

Perhaps, that is also the reason why Hayao Miyazaki has never made bad films. He pays attention to every scene, and does not intentionally simplify his works for children. In fact, his films are often stories full of... intrigue, complexity and mystery. Instead of writing the script first and then adding animation, Hayao Miyazaki often focuses on each storyboard, then builds the story around the images he creates.

“A film reflects its director. There is no way around it. I would regret it if I didn’t make a film that was true to my heart,” he said. “You have to be determined that your film can change the world, even if nothing else changes.”

So, the progress is one minute of the movie per month.FinalThis is really nothing new. It takes time.

Reporter Ligaya Mishan watched Miyazaki light a Seven Stars cigarette, and asked the final question, "What is the title of this work?"How do you live?(How to live?). Will the answer be in the movie?

Miyazaki laughed, "I made this film because I didn't have any answers."

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