Written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son Gorō Miyazaki, this is one of Studio Ghibli’s more straightforward dramas, an adaptation of a popular manga originally published in 1980.
Written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son Gorō Miyazaki, this is one of Studio Ghibli’s more straightforward dramas, an adaptation of a popular manga originally published in 1980. It’s a Ghibli film that feels more directly aimed at a specific demographic — young adults — than some of their most transcendent work, but there is visual beauty here in the design of the mansion in which much of the film takes place and, well, the hill itself. The image of a flag flying high in the breeze, trying to communicate across the miles to sailors far away is haunting. While the story of the likable Umi and Shun works well enough as teen drama with a few interesting twists, what resonates is the concept of a young girl using the naval language of flags to, in the end, try to communicate with an entire lost generation of fathers killed in combat.