Whether referring to an A.I.-driven animation demo as “an insult to life itself,” walking out of a movie directed by his own son (“It feels like I was sitting there for about three hours”), or insisting to anyone who will listen that “filmmaking only brings suffering,” legendary director and living meme factory Hayao Miyazaki has long provided the likes of David Cronenberg and Ridley Scott with serious competition as modern cinema’s most reliable crank.
Whether referring to an A.I.-driven animation demo as “an insult to life itself,” walking out of a movie directed by his own son (“It feels like I was sitting there for about three hours”), or insisting to anyone who will listen that “filmmaking only brings suffering,” legendary director and living meme factory Hayao Miyazaki has long provided the likes of David Cronenberg and Ridley Scott with serious competition as modern cinema’s most reliable crank. And yet, in spite of Miyazaki’s curmudgeonly demeanor and his work’s consistent emphasis on the toxic effects of human civilization in a world cursed by our very existence, there may not be any other auteur whose movies have brought more joy to more people over the last 45 years, or are so widely beloved by children.