The Wind Rises
“The Wind Rises (2013)”
This episode Reuben sounds like he recorded underwater. It’s too bad because it’s a very good episode! Listen anyway, if your ears can handle it.
These early episodes are not available on Apple Podcasts anymore, so I’ve taken the liberty for anyone who wants to listen of making sure the archive.org links still work. You can listen right here on the website or download the MP3 below.
Original Release Date: July 6th, 2014
Episode Timeline:
00:00-02:00 The podcast gets really weird really quick
02:00-03:15 Brief Plot Recap: Patrick
03:15-07:30 Liked It (Everyone, Ilya not very much), Disliked It (Nobody!)
07:30-09:00 Basil imitates the movie’s sweet lofi sound design
09:00-11:40 Does the movie lionize or critique Jiro?
11:40-13:45 Reuben doesn’t think it does either
13:45-14:30 "Would you rather live in a world with or without the Pyramids?"
14:30-15:20 Patrick thinks the movie was critical of Jiro
15:20-16:30 Ilya thinks Nahoko is instrumentalized as a muse character
16:30-18:55 Basil thinks Miyazaki is ambivalent about the planes and their constructors
18:55-20:30 They’re gonna put guns on it, Jiro
20:30-23:20 Jiro is straightforward & heroic but doesn’t know how to live
23:20-24:40 Everyone in the movie except for his sister enables Jiro
24:40-24:50 God, let Patrick talk!
24:50-26:30 Miyazaki uses Jiro to take stock of his own filmmaking process
26:30-27:30 Jiro’s a dreamer (he’s the only one)
27:30-28:40 Ilya likes the super weird coughing on the soundtrack
28:40-30:00 The sound design and dialogue remind Ilya of Lynch sans irony
30:00-31:00 Miyazaki is just doing his thing at this point
31:00-32:10 Basil likes that the movie doesn’t divide itself into “for adults” and “for kids” parts
32:10-33:30 Contrast/similarity to Spirited Away
33:30-34:10 There’s an ad on the podcast!
34:10-35:30 There’s no talking in the first five minutes of the movie (followed by lots of talking)
35:30-36:50 Jiro’s voice-actor is as restrained as his character’s range of emotion
36:50-37:10 It’s Basil’s birthday!
37:10-39:15 Patrick likes how Jiro’s myopia mirrors his emotional condition
39:15-41:00 Paper plane chase turns into near-death experience
41:00-41:30 Life is pretty miserable isn’t it? Yes, it is.
41:30-43:30 Critique of Japanese valorization of work and big stuff that kicks ass!
43:30-44:30 Ilya thinks it’s weird that the movie doesn’t show civilian/non-Japanese cost of war
44:30-45:30 Basil thinks awfulness of World War 2 can be inferred
45:30-46:30 Reuben likes the sympathetic portrait and Japanese perspective on WW2
46:30-47:00 Also, Reuben thought Ilya disagreed that Basil liked Dinosaurs as a kid
47:00-48:00 Sentimentalization of Axis powers’ past still gross
48:00-50:20 Brief scene in Germany is evocative of Nazi regime/Jiro’s cluelessness about it
50:20-52:00 Basil thinks not seeing the Axis powers as monsters helps people be more aware of/non-participatory in their ideology
52:00-52:50 Hans Castorp is a stand-in for the Weimar émigré of the late 1930s
52:50-56:10 His invisibility to the characters mirrors the obliviousness of the time
56:10-57:25 Song sounds like it’s from Noriko’s Dinner Table
57:25-58:00 GOOGLING SECTION OF THE PODCAST BEGINS HERE!
58:00-59:00 Reuben loves the shot of Nahoko in her wedding dress
59:00-01:00:10 Felliniesque planes
01:00:10-01:01:00 Ilya brings up The Aviator and we discuss Scorsese
01:01:00-01:02:00 De Niro banging his head against the wall in Raging Bull should be a 10-hour Youtube loop
01:02:00-01:03:00 Caproni’s massive plane looks like Howard Hughes’ Hercules
01:03:00-01:04:30 Caproni throwing film into the water is reminiscent of the failures you don’t get to see when watching movies as well as with historiography
01:04:30-01:06:00 Miyazaki’s “every artist gets ten years to do great work” is probably tongue-in-cheek
01:06:00-01:06:30 This movie is much better than Ponyo & Howl’s Moving Castle
01:06:30-01:07:40 Let’s speculate on Studio Ghibli projects!
01:07:40-01:10:00 “From the Studio that brought you…” & other hilarious marketing strategies!
01:10:00-01:10:45 This movie is much, much better than The Aviator
01:10:45-01:12:30 “World War 2 was my favorite war!” – Stephen Spielberg (according to JBaum, via Joe Dante)
01:12:30-01:14:00 Patrick compares Miyazaki’s popularity in Japan to Spielberg in US
01:14:00-01:17:20 Ozu/Mizoguchi/ Kurosawa/Miyazaki/Oshima – Who’s Big In Japan?
01:17:20-01:17:40 Who is even listening anymore?
01:17:40-01:18:15 We don’t even have enough ratings on ITunes
01:18:15-01:18:30 Dogs love podcasts!
01:18:30-01:19:30 Miyazaki loves Ozu and Spielberg loves Ran
01:19:30-01:20:30 Basil is now hooked on Russian/Former Soviet Republic movies!
01:20:30-01:21:40 Underworld is the Night Watch of American Cinema
01:21:40-01:22:50 Reuben once ran (surprisingly!) fast to watch Underworld!
01:22:50-01:23:45 Go listen to other podcasts!
01:23:45-01:24:00 TEASER: next time there will be games!
01:24:00-01:24:15 Thanks for listening everybody!
