frasersimons's review against another edition
I’m not going to rate it because it’s implied in the premise, but the amount of granularity on each film, especially ones I’ve seen, as well as peripheral stuff (which the author spoils the shit out of, P.S), is just not really my thing. I’m all for analyzing the auteur, but I quickly discovered I actually don’t care nearly as much as I thought I did. I have no desire to spend this much time with them. Dnf 50%
ryan_ggaur's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
I think I learned the most about what it means to be an artist from this book than I have from anything else. Napier’s recounting of Miyazaki’s journey and breakdown of this philosophy saw my own artistic ideals not only reflected but expanded upon.
There is no definition of what art should be, just elements that resonate with us as individuals. To discover the films of Studio Ghibli was to discover my own taste, my own outlook on film.
I was anxious about reading about Miyazaki. I didn’t want to break the illusion. I didn’t want the messages and beauty of the films to be down to some misreading on my part. What I found in Miyazaki was a deeply complex person with a sadness stemming from childhood trauma which determines so much of his outlook.
Napier shows Miyazaki as a person who leaves room for inner conflict, quoting interviews around the release of each movie that depict an arc of life which sees his changing outlooks. It’s just so real.
I think it can be a difficult and dangerous thing to bare emotion as boldly as Miyazaki but his art wouldn’t be this catalogue of joy, of fear, of longing for a distant utopia of the past or future. The richness of his art comes from his expression of his truth as a person. He’s the type of guy who can’t hide a thing, it’s all expression.
There is no definition of what art should be, just elements that resonate with us as individuals. To discover the films of Studio Ghibli was to discover my own taste, my own outlook on film.
I was anxious about reading about Miyazaki. I didn’t want to break the illusion. I didn’t want the messages and beauty of the films to be down to some misreading on my part. What I found in Miyazaki was a deeply complex person with a sadness stemming from childhood trauma which determines so much of his outlook.
Napier shows Miyazaki as a person who leaves room for inner conflict, quoting interviews around the release of each movie that depict an arc of life which sees his changing outlooks. It’s just so real.
I think it can be a difficult and dangerous thing to bare emotion as boldly as Miyazaki but his art wouldn’t be this catalogue of joy, of fear, of longing for a distant utopia of the past or future. The richness of his art comes from his expression of his truth as a person. He’s the type of guy who can’t hide a thing, it’s all expression.
luluwoohoo's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art by Susan Napier (audiobook narrated by Susan Napier)
☀️☀️☀️⛅
▪️This book serves as a supercut of Hayao Miyazaki's life work, detailing his career from beginning to end with interesting insights into the context of each project as it relates to his life
▪️ Considering one of Miyazaki's films is in my top 3 (Howl's Moving Castle), it's disappointing on my part how few of his movies I've actually watched. Napier describes each film with care and attention to detail that makes me excited to watch them all in due course
▪️The backstory of Miyazaki's life and how it relates to the themes throughout "Miyazakiworld" was the best part of this to read, particularly the influence of his childhood facing the torments of war, an ailing mother and an unpopular hobby that eventually became his life's passion
▪️ Napier doesn't hesitate to show the more negative aspects of Miyazaki, also highlighting the brutally long hours he worked and thereby away from his family, the tensions within Ghibli particularly towards the end of his career, and the critical reviews of his projects throughout
▪️ Overall this verged a little too academic in style for my tastes - though that's indisputably how it is designed to be - but I enjoyed the insights into one of the most fascinating directors alive and I would recommend it for any Ghibli lovers.
"Totoro’s final “magic,” and the reason why its appeal is so profound and universal, is that it allows us to recover what we have forgotten and to luxuriate in innocence, beauty, and joy, if only for a few transitory moments."
"“When it comes to guilt, it’s a consistent theme inside me—my family in Japan, my household, and then Japan in the world, Japan in Asia...this guilt coils around my memories and if I lose that guilt then somehow I have the feeling that I’ll lose the most important thing about myself. I even feel that the guilt is what really supports me.”"
"As I have attempted to show, Miyazakiworld is protean, untrammeled, and extraordinary. If the director wishes to gaze at a calm harbor and imagine gigantic fishlike waves, a falling moon, and a “graveyard of ships” (all of which appear in Ponyo), this is a testament to his greatest strength—the ability to develop anything in his head into full-blown fantasy."
☀️☀️☀️⛅
▪️This book serves as a supercut of Hayao Miyazaki's life work, detailing his career from beginning to end with interesting insights into the context of each project as it relates to his life
▪️ Considering one of Miyazaki's films is in my top 3 (Howl's Moving Castle), it's disappointing on my part how few of his movies I've actually watched. Napier describes each film with care and attention to detail that makes me excited to watch them all in due course
▪️The backstory of Miyazaki's life and how it relates to the themes throughout "Miyazakiworld" was the best part of this to read, particularly the influence of his childhood facing the torments of war, an ailing mother and an unpopular hobby that eventually became his life's passion
▪️ Napier doesn't hesitate to show the more negative aspects of Miyazaki, also highlighting the brutally long hours he worked and thereby away from his family, the tensions within Ghibli particularly towards the end of his career, and the critical reviews of his projects throughout
▪️ Overall this verged a little too academic in style for my tastes - though that's indisputably how it is designed to be - but I enjoyed the insights into one of the most fascinating directors alive and I would recommend it for any Ghibli lovers.
"Totoro’s final “magic,” and the reason why its appeal is so profound and universal, is that it allows us to recover what we have forgotten and to luxuriate in innocence, beauty, and joy, if only for a few transitory moments."
"“When it comes to guilt, it’s a consistent theme inside me—my family in Japan, my household, and then Japan in the world, Japan in Asia...this guilt coils around my memories and if I lose that guilt then somehow I have the feeling that I’ll lose the most important thing about myself. I even feel that the guilt is what really supports me.”"
"As I have attempted to show, Miyazakiworld is protean, untrammeled, and extraordinary. If the director wishes to gaze at a calm harbor and imagine gigantic fishlike waves, a falling moon, and a “graveyard of ships” (all of which appear in Ponyo), this is a testament to his greatest strength—the ability to develop anything in his head into full-blown fantasy."