Kaze Tachinu (2013)

[starlady]

I went to see this with a bunch of people the weekend it came out in wide release, and the general consensus among our group was that it was beautiful but unsatisfying. In the weeks since I have spent a lot of time arguing with people about it. My conversation with rushthatspeaks in this review of the movie, however, is making me reconsider my perspective and my opinions, and think that I should see it again.

One exceedingly minor quibble: since I went to the trouble of learning classical Japanese, I can tell you that "-nu" is a perfective ending in modern Japanese, and therefore a more accurate translation would be 'The Wind Has Arisen.' /pedantry

Comments

[lnhammer]

I've been biting my tongue over that perfective, but it's the standard translation of the title of the original novella that's the artist's thread. I note, though, that some classical grammar books (such as Wixted) claim -nu could in the classical period also be a continuing state for spontaneous actions.

---L.

[starlady]

Oh yeah, as a translation, "The Wind Rises" makes more sense, but it also makes me twitchy.

I think Shirane says that nu could also be spontaneous? My book is in the other room and I'm lazy. Definitely the perfective sense is the one that stays in modern, though, as you know L. :)

[oyceter]

Huh! I think I actually liked the movie more than most of you guys did and found it very moving in many ways (the little details of Nahoko and Jiro's marriage, despite the overall fail of not taking care of your TB-ridden wife, frex), though I'm still not entirely convinced Miyazaki is quite as intentional about judging Jiro as rushthatspeaks says. The bit about the Thomas Mann character is v. interesting, and I want to find out more... was checking out the wiki article and am trying to fit in the bits about TB and the sanatorium mentioned in The Magic Mountain with bits in the movie.

I think I saw it as a work by someone very much like Jiro, where Miyazaki does intellectually know making war planes isn't the best thing for the world but some part is still caught up in it, and there's all this guilt in which he allllmoooost has the movie looking at the consequences but not quite.

In conclusion: I should probably read Thomas Mann!