Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Original Title: 風の谷のナウシカ
Romanized: Kaze no Tani no Naushika
Literal: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Plot Synopsis

After a great war involving immense constructs ravished the earth and poisoned the land, nothing remains but empty deserts, acidic oceans, and a vast sea of giant fungus known as the Fukai that sprays out toxic spores and threatens to engulf the last vestiges of humanity. In this bleak distant future, a young princess, Nausicaa, lives in an idyllic place known as the Valley of the Wind, so named because of the constant winds that keep it from being engulfed by the Fukai. But everything begins to change one night when a massive airship crashes in the valley, drawing the military forces of Tolmekia--commanded by the general Kushana and bent on making war on the immense bugs known as Ohm who inexplicably protect the Fukai from damage. Within the airship is a growing embryo of one of the very war constructs that nearly caused the destruction of humanity to begin with, and, at least as the Tolmekians believe, the only thing that will save it. Nausicaa abhors violence, but when first taken hostage and then pushed too far by the Tolmekian invaders, she has no choice but to fight, and in her hands and her understanding of the Fukai and the Ohm may rest the future of humanity...

Quick Review

Rating: 5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2002-02-10

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a true masterpiece of anime by the master himself, Hayao Miyazaki. The plot is a sort of cautionary ecological tale, but is not as simplistic or formula as it could have easily been. Imbued with life and meaning by the fact that none of the characters (including the faceless bugs and fungus) are quite as two-dimensional as they initially seem, and given form by the imagination of Miyazaki, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a grand drama, exciting adventure, and meaningful all at the same time. Despite the film's age, it is also beautiful in every sense of the word--from sweeping landscapes full of imagination and subtle beauty to breathtaking flight sequences to the little details of ordinary motion. Completed by an impressive Japanese performance behind Nausicaa and Joe Hisaishi's marvelous score, the only legitimate complaint I've heard about the film is that the lengthy comic version is better--hardly an issue with the film itself.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a masterpiece of anime, and I would say of filmmaking of any sort. It is simultaneously beautiful, exciting, touching, and tells a meaningfully allegorical tale, plus it is filled with the sort of imagination that would make any film worth watching. This is one anime movie that almost anyone, fan or not, should enjoy.

US DVD Review

As with other Disney releases of Ghibli films, Nausicaa comes on a 2-disc set that includes the film in anamorphic widescreen with both Japanese and English dialogue, accurately translated English subtitles. The second disc includes extras, most notably a complete set of storyboards for the film.

Content Guide

It is rated PG; there is some significant violence with a lot of emotion behind it, but there is otherwise very little explicit or objectionable content.

Violence: 3 - A lot of people get killed, and though it's not graphic at all there are some very emotionally strong scenes.

Nudity: 0 - Essentially nothing. Note: It's a surprisingly common misconception that Nausicaa's outfit is a short skirt; it is not--it's a tunic and tan pants or loose-fitting tights.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Not even any significant romance.

Language: 1 - Based on my own opinion; I don't know how much (if any) profanity the Disney release has.

Notes and Trivia

Nausicaa was, in 2005, finally released in the US in an uncut, remastered version by Disney; this release was something of a parallel to a 20th anniversary re-release and remastering of the film for video release in Japan.

It was, however, the first (and, with the exception of Castle of Cagliostro, only) Miyazaki film to be released in the US as the heavily edited "Warriors of the Wind" in the '80s. Despite about a half an hour of cut footage and changing the main character's name to the less than lyrical Zandra, I've still heard good things about this version. However, that mangled release is said to be the reason it was so long before any other Ghibli film saw a proper US release (Castle of Cagliostro was not Ghibli's to license), and why part of the agreement with Disney included a requirement that the films be released completely unedited.

The film is loosely based on the first two of a 7-volume manga series written and drawn by Miyazaki. It is available in English from VIZ. The series was recently re-released in a format more faithful to the original Japanese version, reading right-to-left and in a format closer to the original Japanese books.

If you happen to be wondering, Ohmu (王虫) is written in Japanese with characters meaning "King of the bugs." The name Nausicaa apparently comes from a character in Homer's Odyssey, and the name for Nausicaa's flying machine Mehve apparently comes from the German word for "seagull."

In a random bit of trivia, the Japanese voice actress of Nausicaa, Sumi Shimamoto, also voiced Clarisse in the Castle of Cagliostro. She is not a prolific voice actress, but has worked consistently throughout the '80s and '90s, though a bit ironically one of her most recent roles was in the absolutely abysmal TV series "Don't Leave Me Alone Daisy."

Another random and odd bit of trivia is that, at least according to the IMDB, the film is banned in Poland along with a handful of other relatively innocuous titles. It apparently had something to do with complaints about the depictions of ecological disaster, although given the message of the film this seems questionable--if any readers have more details, please fill me in.

Availability

Available in the US on bilingual DVD from Disney (Buena Vista Home Entertainment).

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