Never Ending Man Hayao Miyazaki (2018)

[enoughcats]

The co-founder of Studio Ghibli retired in 2013.  But, he couldn't stay retired and the potential to use computer generated images to make a short film became an obsession because he couldn't make it his conventional way.  He really wanted to make the short story of a caterpiller. 

I have always loved his cartoons that are so much more than cartoons.  Now I want to go back for additional rewatches because this film shows his appreciation of how the refinements of drawing make things more real.  

There are two versions on the DVD/Blue Ray.  The longer one in Japanese with subtitles was wonderful.  Following Miyazaki though his day, through his creative processes, through his talking about growing older and knowing that he couldn't keep up with his younger self.  Insights that hit close to home for me.  (Had I seen and appreciated his kitchen, I would have built mine differently.)  Close to the end of the work, there's a presentation of what someone hopes will be the future of AI in ten or so years.  Miyazaki's reaction was magnificent.  The man ....well, you need to see that part.  For me, it floored me in the best way and I wanted to bow deeply to the man or at least grovel at his feet. 

From the near beginning when we see a Totoro about ten feet tall, carved in wood,  to frustrations, to solutions,  this may be the most interesting hour I'll spend this year.