Film: The Wind Rises

Yes! Finally finished my film list early this afternoon. So now I know what's on for the week, and have a rough idea of their rating on IMDB. Top of the list for today was Breadcrumb Trail, but that had two problems.. (1) By this stage I wouldn't make it in time, and (2) I wasn't interested anyway. It's about a band I've never heard of. So that was ok. Instead, I went to the second on the list - The Wind Rises. There's a lot of Japanese animated film out at the moment, most of which I avoid - I'm not interested in anime, thanks, or children's film, generally. However, I made an exception for this - an Oscar-nominated fictionalised biopic of the engineer who designed the Japanese fighter planes during WWII.

The nearest place it was showing was in Cineworld Fulham - I could choose from four showings today, two of which were in Japanese with English subtitles, the other two of which were dubbed in English. Didn't matter to me, so I chose the 6pm showing, which meant I didn't have to rush. It happened to be dubbed. It's been gloriously warm, and I had a lovely, leisurely walk to the cinema. I never realised Old Brompton Road was so fragrant - it's very leafy, and you pass some gardens. The warm weather obviously suits it! Anyway, I arrived early, and had to mooch around the lobby a bit before they finished cleaning and let me in.

I'd heard good things about how beautiful this film was. That's undeniable. The story of a little Japanese boy, frustrated in his dream to be a pilot, because he had poor eyesight, who instead had the idea of becoming an aeronautical engineer. It's absolutely enchanting, and beautifully told. He ultimately realises that his planes are going to be used for military purposes, but it doesn't deter him - his aim is to build beautiful flying machines, which he does. The latter part of the film had me in literally floods of tears - it's not often that happens. I wasn't the only one either, I heard plenty of sniffling around me. It's so charming, this film.. it's a rare pleasure to see something like this. I'm terrible with voices, and was surprised to see so many famous names on the cast list at the end - Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead role, Emily Blunt as his wife, Werner Herzog as the German he befriends, Jennifer Grey as his boss's wife, William H. Macy as his father-in-law, Elijah Wood as Sone (I don't remember who that is, and can't seem to get any information on him, sorry). Truly a film not to miss, if you get the chance.

I'm very excited about tomorrow's offering. Top of the list was Advanced Style, a documentary about elderly New Yorkers with eccentric styles. But I wasn't so interested in that, and searched on. Godzilla continues its inexorable decline, and is currently tying with Walkabout, showing at the Rio. The latter is a highly visual film about a little boy and his sister (Jenny Agutter) lost in the Outback. Not only does it look good, but it's showing in a double-bill called Beyond Civilisation with another film, made in the same year, set in the Outback, called Wake in Fright - a dark drama starring Donald Pleasence. Two for the price of one, and both sound excellent! It's a long journey out there, but I think it's worth it..