Nausica of the Valley of the Wind (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nausica of the Valley of the Wind

Japanese theatrical poster for Nausica of the Valley of the

Wind, designed and illustrated by Yoshiyuki Takani

Japanese

Hepburn

Kaze no Tani no Naushika

Directed by

Hayao Miyazaki

Produced by

Isao Takahata

Written by

Hayao Miyazaki

Based on

Nausica of the Valley of the

Wind
by Hayao Miyazaki

Starring

Sumi Shimamoto
Gor Naya
Yji Matsuda
Yoshiko Sakakibara
Iemasa Kayumi

Music by

Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography

Koji Shiragami
Yukitomo Shudo
Yasuhiro Shimizu
Mamoru Sugiura

Edited by

Tomoko Kida
Naoko Kaneko
Masatsugu Sakai

Production
company

Topcraft
Tokuma Shoten
Hakuhodo

Distributed by

Toei Company

Release dates
March 11, 1984
Running time

117 minutes

Country

Japan

Language

Japanese

Nausica of the Valley of the Wind (Japanese: Hepburn: Kaze no Tani no

Naushika?) is a 1984 Japanese animated post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure film written and

directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on his own 1982 manga of the same name. Isao
Takahata produced the film for Tokuma Shoten and Hakuhodo, with Top Craft animating. Joe
Hisaishi composed the film's musical score. The film stars the voices of Sumi Shimamoto, Goro
Naya, Yoji Matsuda, Yoshiko Sakakibara and Iemasa Kayumi.[1]
The film tells the story of Nausica (Shimamoto), a young princess of the Valley of the Wind
who gets involved in a struggle with Tolmekia, a kingdom that tries to use an ancient weapon to
eradicate a jungle of mutant giant insects. Nausica must stop the Tolmekians from enraging
these creatures.
The film was released in Japan on March 11, 1984. While created before Studio Ghibli was
founded, the film is considered to be the beginning of the studio and is often included as part of
the Studio's works, including the Studio Ghibli Collection DVDs and Blu-rays.[2]
Plot[edit]
One thousand years have passed since the Seven Days of Fire, an apocalyptic war that
destroyed human civilization and gave birth to the vast Toxic Jungle,[Note 1] a forest swarming with
giant mutant insects in which everything is lethal to humans. Scattered settlements exist
wherever the Toxic Jungle relents. The Valley of the Wind is one such settlement. The Valley's
settlers have a prophecy about a person, "clothed in blue robes, descending onto a golden field,
to join bonds with the great earth and guide the people to the pure lands at last".
Nausica, the agile, cheerful and peace-loving princess of the Valley of the Wind, has managed
to befriend the Toxic Jungle. She explores the Jungle and communicates with its creatures,
including the gigantic, armored trilobite-like creatures called Ohm.[Note 2]She often travels on a
compact jet-powered glider in order to find out about the origins of the Toxic Jungle, understand
its nature, and even find a cure for both humans and the world.
One night, during a visit by the Valley's swordsmaster, Lord Yupa, a large fixed-wing cargo
aircraft from the kingdom of Tolmekia crashes in the Valley. Nausica tries to rescue an onboard
passenger, the wounded Princess Lastelle of Pejite, who pleads with Nausica to destroy the
cargo before dying. The cargo is an embryo of a Giant Warrior, lethal genetically engineered
bioweapons that caused the Seven Days of Fire. The invading Tolmekians seized the embryo
and Lastelle. The Tolmekian plane, however, was attacked by mutant insects before it crashed.
One of the insects then emerges wounded from the wreckage and seems poised to attack the
frightened villagers, but Nausica uses a small bullroarer to create a high-pitched tune that
helps calm it and after mounting her jet-glider, guides the insect out of the village to safety.
The next morning, Tolmekian troops, led by Princess Kushana and Officer Kurotowa, enter the
Valley and secure the Giant Warrior embryo, killing Nausica's sick father in the process.
Kushana plans to mature the Giant Warrior and then use it to burn the Toxic Jungle, even
though history warns of fatal consequences. After witnessing her father's death, Nausica goes
berserk and kills several Tolmekian soldiers before Yupa intervenes. Kushana announces her
decision to leave for Pejite with Nausica along with five hostages from the Valley. Before they
leave, Yupa discovers her secret garden of jungle plants. According to Nausica, plants that
grow in clean soil and water are not toxic. The jungle's soil, however, has long been tainted by
humankind.
Kushana and her detachment are unable to reach their destination, as an agile
Pejite interceptor shoots down the Tolmekian ship. Nausica, her fellow hostages and Kushana
crash-land in the jungle, disturbing several Ohm, which Nausica soothes. She then leaves to
rescue Asbel, the Pejite pilot and the twin brother of Lastelle, but both are swallowed by

quicksand and end up in a non-toxic world below the jungle. Nausica realizes that the jungle
plants purify the polluted topsoil, producing clean water that remains hidden underground.
Nausica and Asbel return to Pejite, only to find it ravaged by the insects. While boarding a
single plane, the surviving villagers reveal that they lured the creatures to eradicate the
Tolmekians and are doing the same in the Valley to recapture the Giant Warrior. To prevent any
intervention, they capture Nausica. Later, with the help of Asbel and his mother, Nausica
escapes on a glider. While flying home, Nausica finds a team of Pejite soldiers using a
wounded baby Ohm to lead a furious Ohm herd numbering in the thousands into the Valley. The
Tolmekians deploy tanks and later the Giant Warrior against the herd, but to no avail: the tanks'
firepower is nowhere near enough to harm an Ohm, and the Giant Warrior, having been hatched
prematurely, soon disintegrates, despite successfully destroying a few waves of Ohm.
Nausica liberates the baby Ohm and gains its trust; in the process, her pink dress becomes
stained by its blue blood, turning completely blue. The two attempt to stop the raging herd, but
are run over, with Nausica seemingly killed. The herd, however, calms down, and the Ohmu
use their golden tentacles to heal Nausica. Nausica awakens and starts to dance on top of
the hundreds of glowing golden tentacles. Clad in blue and walking as through golden fields,
Nausica has fulfilled the prophecy. The Ohmu and Tolmekians leave the Valley afterwards,
while the surviving Pejites remain with the Valley people, helping them rebuild. Meanwhile, a
new tree is beginning to grow underground.
Voice cast[edit]
Characters

Japanese voice cast

English voice cast (2005)

Nausica

Sumi Shimamoto

Alison Lohman

Asbel

Yji Matsuda

Shia LaBeouf

Kushana

Yoshiko Sakakibara

Uma Thurman

Lord Yupa

Goro Naya

Patrick Stewart

Obaba

Hisako Kyda

Tress MacNeille

Kurotowa

Iemasa Kayumi

Chris Sarandon

Mito

Ichir Nagai

Edward James Olmos

King Jihl

Mahito Tsujimura

Mark Silverman

Gol

Khei Miyauchi

Frank Welker

Gikuri

Jji Yanami

Jeff Bennett

Emperor

Jiro J. Tahakushi

Mako Iwamatsu

Lastelle

Miina Tominaga

Emily Bauer

Mayor of Pejite

Makoto Terada

Mark Hamill

Lastelle's Mother

Akiko Tsuboi

Jodi Benson

Narrator

None

Tony Jay

It should also be noted that Susan Davis and Cam Clarke voice Nausica and Asbel in the 1985
"Warriors of the Wind" dub, the rest of the voice actors are however unconfirmed.
Themes[edit]

Miyazaki's work on Nausica of the Valley of the Wind was inspired by a range of works
including Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea, Brian Aldiss's Hothouse, Isaac Asimov's Nightfall,
and J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.[6] Dani Cavallaro also suggests inspiration from The
Princess Who Loved Insects folktale, and the works of William Golding.[3] Nausica, the
character, was inspired in name and personality, by Homer's Phaeacian princess in
the Odyssey.[3] While a connection to Frank Herbert's Dune is often made there is no
confirmation apart from the name "Ohmu" being a syllabic rendition of the English "worm".
[6]

Miyazaki's imagination was sparked by the mercury poisoning of Minamata Bay and how

nature responded and thrived in a poisoned environment, using it to create the polluted world

of Nausica of the Valley of the Wind.[3] Ian DeWeese-Boyd agrees, "Her commitment to love
and understandingeven to the point of deathtransforms the very nature of the conflict
around her and begins to dispel the distorting visions that have brought it about."[8]
The most prominent themes are the anti-war and environmental focus of the film. Nausica, the
heroine, believes in the value of life regardless of its form and through her actions stops a war.
Loy and Goodhew state there is no evil portrayed in the film, but the Buddhist roots of evil:
greed, ill will and delusion. Fear is what drives the conflicts, the fear of the poisoned forest
results in the greed and resentment. Nausica, in addition to being a transformative force, leads
people to understand and respect nature which is portrayed as welcoming, spiritual, and
restorative for those who enter it peacefully.[9]
The film was released, in 1984, with a recommendation from the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF).[10] On July 30, 1995, a subtitled version of the film was screened at theInstitute of
Contemporary Arts, in London, as part of the "Building Bridges" film festival, marking the fiftieth
anniversary of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[6] In her March 25, 2013
presentation at Colorado College, on "Tapestries of Apocalypse: From Angers to 'Nausicaa' and
Beyond", Dr. Susan J. Napier places the film and in particular the tapestry, depicted underneath
the opening credits, within the tradition of artistic representation of apocalypses and apocalyptic
visions. She explores the role such expressions play in understanding apocalyptic events and
post-event recovery.[11]