Some reflections after watching 'The Boy and The Heron'
War and Peace:
There is a dialogue in the movie 'War and Peace': 'So can this world hold on for just one more day?' 'Just one day, is that all?' It shows how difficult it is to maintain a peaceful world. This is also the reality: peace is precious and hard-won. Eternal peace does not exist; the desires of human nature can lead to war, and war can lead to the destruction of the world. The last pure land on earth disappears, consumed by desires. Such a world tends towards destruction. Humanity is also losing something. In this increasingly capitalistic world, everything is labeled with money and power. People are losing the pure beauty that comes from nature. Because of money and power, desires and conflicts arise, leading the world towards destruction. The world of peace created by Uncle Gong is destroyed because of desires and greed. The world is vast, and a button can decide the fate of humanity; yet it is small, and everyone is the same, possessing desires and greed. Almost everyone is living their own lives, tending to their own affairs. Not everyone can be a king, but everyone, like a king, has desires. The life of a king is a life, and the life of an ordinary person is also a life. What people hate is war, they hate the kings who wage war for their own interests, not the innocent people. Only one parrot becomes king, but most people are like parrots, repeating others' words, going with the flow, lacking their own opinions, becoming followers of others. This requires asking oneself: What kind of life do you want to live? You must make your own choices and live the life you want. Don't be like a parrot, afraid of being bullied and only bullying the weak; don't solve problems with violence like a parrot, resorting to any means for profit; don't wait to be fed like a parrot, holding a knife and fork.
The difference between humans and other animals lies in human nature, but when human greed is taken to the extreme, it reveals an undeniable beastliness. When people are controlled by desires, what's the difference between them and beasts? The parrot in the movie embodies the extreme greed of human nature, combining all the evils of human nature into one and becoming a beast instead of a human.
Reflection:
This is a literary animated film with strong autobiographical elements, not simply serving to please the audience. In this sense, I prefer to call it a work of art rather than just an animated movie. The creators of modern art are often not only the authors themselves; the secondary creations of the audience are also important. "There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand readers" is true in this case.
When watching this movie, my first impression was that Hayao Miyazaki, as an octogenarian, was serving me a cup of tea under the moonlight of summer, narrating his life experiences. He fears that his time is running out, so he incorporates his feelings about life, his understanding of life, and a lifetime of regrets into this movie titled ‘How Do You Live'. Although the movie rarely delves into the topic of life, from the title to now, we are influenced by such interrogative titles, repeatedly asking ourselves: “How Do I Live”
I think the best explanation is: Miyazaki, through this movie, inserts himself into the role of a real person, traverses a whole life from war to losing his mother to pursuing dreams, and then says, "Look, this is my life. What about yours?"
Unlike Disney's 'Soul', which directly tells you that the meaning of life lies in cherishing every moment, ‘How Do You Live' leaves more room for you to fill in. In the end, the collapse of Miyazaki's world also tells us, don't follow others' paths, follow your heart, and live however you want.
Looking back at the whole movie, Miyazaki is asking himself: What kind of life do you want to live? I have lived such a wonderful life.
Miyazaki is also asking us: What kind of life do you want to live? The next movement is up to ourselves to compose.