Movie Review – The Boy and the Heron (What kind of life do we live in the face of past and future choices?)

This movie is about loss, growth, and finding the true meaning of life at a crossroads. Through the adventures of the protagonist, Mahito, the film explores human nature, the boundaries between good and evil, and asks deep questions about how we should live our lives.

 

The Boy and the Heron was supposed to be Hayao Miyazaki’s last film. But it’s not his last film because he came out of retirement, but it’s an autobiographical tale that reflects his values. He has always been anti-war, criticized the reckless exploitation of nature by humans, and written works about nature and humanity. These themes recur in most of his works, most notably in Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away. In both of these works, he delves deeply into the relationship between nature and humans, and the impact humans have on nature, with messages of environmental protection and peace. In this work, these themes are echoed in the advice for future generations.
The Boy and the Heron follows the adventures of a boy named Mahito. After losing his mother in a fire, Mahito travels with his father to his mother’s hometown, where he learns that his father has remarried Natsuko (his mother’s sister=aunt) and is expecting a baby brother. The young boy misses his mother and struggles to adjust to his new home. He naturally feels a sense of loss and isolation, and these feelings act as obstacles to his growth. In the process, Mahito embarks on a journey to understand and overcome his emotions.

 

 

Then a strange heron appears. The seven old ladies who work at the mansion hear stories about the tower where the heron lives. One day, Natsuko disappears. Mahito enters the tower to find Natsuko and follows the heron into a mysterious world. His helpers, Kiriko and his childhood mom, Himi, help him in the other world. They are more than just helpers, they play an important role in Mahito’s inner world and in healing his wounds. Kiriko, in particular, helps Mahito grow internally through the trials he faces in the other world, and Himi helps him connect with his lost maternal love.
With their help, Mahito reaches the mountain chamber where Natsuko is, but is captured by the cannibalistic parrots after refusing the enchanted stone. After escaping with the help of a heron, Mahito makes his way to the home of his great-grandfather, the master of the world, where he is offered the position of master of the other world, but refuses. In this scene, Mahito is faced with a big choice. It’s an important moment for him to decide what kind of life he wants to live. Later, when the other world is about to be destroyed due to the rampage of the Parrot King, he flees to the room where his timeline is located. There, he tells his mother, Himi, not to go, but she tells him that she is proud to have given birth to him, and he returns to the real timeline with his stepmother, Natsuko.
In fact, my first thought after finishing the movie was, “This is really esoteric,” and I’m not surprised, as the plot is intriguingly constructed, but the ending is too short. I was expecting to see Mahito living happily with his stepmother, or to see him grow into a sincere person with no malice, but I was confused when the movie ended with him saying, ‘I went back to Tokyo two years later,’ and moving away. I felt like I had a dragon head and a dragon body, but no tail. This ending suggests that Mahito’s story is far from over. On the journey of life, growth and maturity continue, and Mahito will continue to grow and mature through more experiences and challenges in his life.
I also think that some of the developments in the middle of the movie were more challenging because they were not obvious. For example, in the movie, Mahito possesses the heron’s weakness, a knife collar, and the heron is forced to cooperate with him. The fact that the feather Mahito picks up is the weakness of the heron seemed like an unlikely development. However, when I reflected on the movie’s content, I realized that it was not so esoteric. The film’s deep symbolism and philosophical message is not simply a logical progression of events, but rather focuses on the values that each character symbolizes and the importance of the choices they face.
As the title “The Boy and the Heron” suggests, the movie is about thinking about how to live in the future. By comparing Mahito to his grandfather, the master of the other world, the audience is made to think about how they should live their lives. Grandpa gains power through a magical stone and tries to leave the ugly real world to build an ideal world. However, time passes and the otherworldly parrots take over the world. Just like the humans in the real world, the parrots don’t hesitate to engage in ugly wars, fights, and violence. This scene symbolizes the absurdity and violence of human society, and Grandpa’s failed utopian attempt reflects his deep skepticism about human nature. Barely able to maintain this world, Grandpa proposes Mahito to become his successor. He asks him to build a better world. However, Mahito recognizes the malice in the stones that make up the world. He declares that he will not build a world with stones of malice and will return to his stepmother. Mahito is a real person who wants to change reality, even if it’s an ugly reality. His decision is not just a choice, but a reflection of his deep insight into life. That’s why Hayao Miyazaki wants to say, “Descendants, face reality and don’t make choices with malice. Be a real person, a Mahito.” I think that’s what Hayao Miyazaki is trying to say.
In fact, Mahito is not entirely good: after a fight with a group of kids at school, he stones his own head to make it bleed. He does this out of spite, to make it look as if his classmates had stoned him. This behavior shows the complex emotions and conflicts within him. Afterward, he goes to the other world and meets various people and situations. He meets his helper Kiriko and works for Warawara, and helps a heron who was mean to him. He also finds his stepmother with the help of his mom, Himi. Through the accumulation of these choices, he learns good will and becomes a man who can recognize malice in a stone. Eventually, good will goes around and around. That’s how I understood it: the world can be made better through the cycle of goodwill.

 

 

I also interpreted the movie as a story about Natsuko (stepmother) and Mahito overcoming their wounds. Natsuko tries to take care of her dead sister’s son (Mahito), but is hurt by his refusal to give up his heart easily. Natsuko feels sorry and guilty for her dead sister. Mahito misses his dead mother, and finds the unfamiliar surroundings distressing. His father wants to solve everything with money instead of emotional support. His classmates bully him and pick on him. His mom is dead, and his stepmom is expecting a baby brother. Mahito feels indebted to his stepmother for being there for him, but also resents her for taking his mother’s place. These complex feelings are common in human relationships, and they’re relatable. In the midst of these complex feelings, Mahito and Natsuko struggle to truly understand and accept each other. Mahito refuses to recognize his stepmother as his mother until just before he and his mother Himi are separated, but then he reconciles with his stepmother. The movie ends with the final scene of them moving out. This means that he is leaving home with his stepmother. It symbolizes true reconciliation. It signifies a new beginning, and shows hope for the future that Mahito and Natsuko will build together.
Up until now, Hayao’s works have mainly dealt with children living under the shadow of their parents. Either they lose their parents, their parents disappear, or they go in search of their parents. In this work, the protagonist misses his lost mother and grows through the process of establishing a relationship with his new mother. In his work, parents are more than just caretakers and educators; they play an important role in helping children find their own identity. In Spirited Away, the relationship between parents and children is a central theme, as the film shows how a parent’s greed affects the child. But as he grew older and raised his own children, I wonder if he repeated the phrase “The Boy and the Heron” to himself. It’s a story for posterity, but it’s also a story for your own child. It is a glimpse into the heart of a parent who wants his children to follow the right path, and how he himself constantly struggled and tried to live such a life.
I think this movie is not just about the past, but about the future. The symbols in the movie, such as the otherworldly beings and the magic stone, can all be seen as metaphors for the choices and challenges we may face in our lives. Hayao Miyazaki is asking us more than just a story, he is asking us a deep philosophical question. That question is: How should we live? It makes you think about the choices you face in life and the consequences of those choices. It’s not just a story in a movie, but it has the power to make audiences reflect on their own lives and think deeply about their future.