Oscars 2014: If We Picked The Nominees (Best Picture)

2. The Wind Rises

Hayao Miyazaki is the legendary Japanese animator who was behind such classic animated hits as My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle. At age 73, and with an oeuvre filled with some of the most respected animated films of all time, Miyazaki has little to prove in his career, so while not expected, it wasn't all that surprising when he announced a few months back that his next film, The Wind Rises, would be his last. It's sad that we will never have another Miyazaki film to look forward to, but as swan songs go, it doesn't get much better than this. Miyazaki has built his esteemed reputation through gorgeous visuals usually set to fantastic, and unmistakably Japanese, fairy tale-esque narratives. What makes The Wind Rises an interesting detour to the stories Miyazaki usually tells is that, while elements of fantasy and stunning animation are still present in the film (aesthetically, The Wind Rises is probably the most beautiful animated film I have ever seen), it actually is grounded in reality. A fictionalized amalgamative biography of both Tatsuo Hori and Jiro Horikoshi (the designer of the infamous Zero planes the Japanese flew in the Second World War), The Wind Rises follows the exploits of the latter as he dreams of constructing wonderful aeronautic creations even as he abhors the practical and destructive forces that his beloved inventions are ultimately used for. The Wind Rises has a very measured pacing to its proceedings, invoking the tempo of the classic Hollywood biopics of the 1930's and 1940's as well as the work of David Lean. Less focused on plot (the film lacks any real narrative arc) and more concerned with the nature of its characters, time, and place, for many Attention Deficit Disorder filmgoers, The Wind Rises will likely feel awfully slow, but for those more accustomed to the rhythms of pre-21st Century cinema, the film is full of more depth and perception than any film that has been released in quite some time. The Wind Rises has an eerie understanding of the brain of a true engineer (as well as, more generally, the creative dreamers among us), as the film's depiction of its protagonist's motivations and thought processes is the most uncanny representation of the technologists who inadvertently created the society we live in today that has ever graced the silver screen. For those interested in Japanese history, this is an absolute must as well, for beyond an accurate psychological study of the curious brain, the film also has a deep understanding of contemporary Japanese history, particular the crucial pre-war culture that led Japan down the disastrous path of WWII. And lest you think this makes the film sound like a boring history lesson, what is amazing about The Wind Rises is that all this wonderful subtext is worked into a touching story that works as a classic tale of love on the surface level. While not totally ignored by the Oscars (the film is nominated for Best Animated film), it's a shame The Wind Rises is not up for some of the more prominent awards. For whatever reason, with the exception of a few critics (who have ranked it in their top five), the film has not received as positive a response as it deserves. Regardless of its reception, The Wind Rises is a fantastic film and very nearly topped this list. After making a movie this good, its sad we will not see another Miyazaki production (and with a biopic at this level, its sad he didn't work in non-fiction more often), but if going out on top was his goal, then Miyazaki couldn't have done much better.