13 Overlooked Films From Famous Directors

4. Hayao Miyazaki - The Wind Rises

Inherent Vice
Studio Ghibli

Hayao Miyazaki is pretty much the best animation director of all time (Sorry Disney, but you're a close second). His films are both visually enchanting works of art and huge satisfying narratives, as well as being frighteningly close to perfect. Hearts broke everywhere when he announced his retirement, yet when he released what was meant to be his swansong it went largely unnoticed.

Luckily for all of us, he is now working on a new film, but even if he wasn't this would've been a great swansong. While The Wind Rises is very different from Miyazaki's other films - it's a biopic of the designer of fighter planes during WWII - this is still a Miyazaki film through and through. It's just as visually stunning, emotionally resonant and dramatically rich as his films always are and it's up there with his classics such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

The only real difference is that it's far more adult than his other films and it reaches a new level of maturity and depth for him. It's is a beautiful movie and visually it might be his best film. Let's hope Miyazaki carries on for as long as possible.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.