A tribute to the great Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki is currently running at the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Cinematheques and will continue throughout the Passover holiday and until the end of the month.
Miyazaki’s unique work is imaginative and filled with beautiful imagery, but his stories also have great emotional depth, usually from the point of view of children, that transport viewers into dreamlike worlds.
While some of these films are available on streaming services, it is much more intense and enjoyable to see them on the big screen.
Most of his movies are suitable for children, although some feature nightmarish scenarios that will be too intense for younger kids.
The tribute features his latest movie, The Boy and the Heron, about a boy drawn into a strange underworld in the aftermath of his mother’s death during World War II, and which I would not recommend for children under 10.
But the movie, which won the Oscar this year for Best Animated Feature, is worth seeing for older children and adults, especially because Miyazaki, now in his 80s, has said it will be his last film.
His previous film, The Wind Rises, is about a boy who dreams of becoming a pilot and instead has a career as a flight engineer, will be shown in the tribute and is also more geared to adult viewers.
Some of the movies that would be better for young children include Kiki’s Delivery Service, about a young witch who uses her talent for riding a broomstick to make friends; My Neighbor Totoro, the story of children who discover a world of enchanted forest creatures after their mother is hospitalized; and Ponyo, about a combination fish and girl who befriends a human child after she is washed ashore.
Other Miyazaki masterpieces include Spirited Away, about a girl who is swept into a series of adventures after her parents are turned into pigs on their way to a new home; Princess Mononoke, about a boy who finds himself in the middle of a war between the titular princess and forest creatures; and Howl’s Moving Castle, about a girl who is cursed and turned into an old woman at the base of a fantastic castle.
For the full program, go to the websites of the Jerusalem Cinematheque http://www.jer-cin.org.il/ and the Tel Aviv Cinematheque cinema.co.il