I finally got to watch this on the big screen during the Ghibli film festival. The film is very deep and political and in it there are multiple struggles between man and nature, and man against his own nature. What I loved about it is how ambiguous the morality was and how the only true evil portrayed in the film is that of fear and misunderstanding.
Without giving too much away, the hero of the film was an inspiration to me. Her love, patience and compassion for all living things and sides of the conflict (while also being feminine, strong and courageous) make her a powerful character not to be messed with.
It’s great to see this portrayal of female strength in film, using femininity to save the world through empathy, sacrifice and understanding.
I also learned that this is also a manga, which I must explore as Miyazaki is one of my idols.
