This was the second Studio Ghibli we saw in two days. I feel lighter, really. The movie is about the highly inspired Jiro Horikoshi who is told by his dreamed-up mentor Giovanni Caproni that 'Inspiration unlocks the future, technology will catch up'. Its amazing how real the animated characters felt- the little boss, the cheerful bigger boss, the friend who pointed out ironies like you need to marry to work and Jiro's sister who is always lovingly annoyed with him. In the beginning of the movie the portrayal of the earthquake is so beautiful- it looks like the earth was like a rug that was lifted up to dust and flapped in the wind. The sound effects that accompany the fire are fierce and the colors are flagrant. All of the rest of the movie is beautiful, lovingly and painstakingly made landscapes. I read and noticed from a review that while the Mitsubishi company's inventions caused so much bloodshed, the only scene of blood in the movie is when Nahoko coughs up blood so very 'artistically' on her painting. In a previous scene, Jiro had warned her that her painting was getting wet as they battle the rain in a battered umbrella. Nahoko seems to have been in no hurry- it was a beautiful little moment under the umbrella with their legs soaked. There was something about the way Miyazaki drew the German man's eyes as he paints the backdrop of the Magic Mountain after having sung 'Nur Einmal' that was almost haunting. The backdrop of poverty, urban migration was a little under stitched to Miyazaki's perspective in my opinion.
