Anime master Hayao Miyazaki back with ‘The Boy and the Heron’

It is the first animated film, and also the first Japanese film, to open the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival

Poster of ‘The Boy and the Heron’

Japanese anime master Hayao Miyakazi is back with the film ‘The Boy and the Heron’, a decade after his last film ‘The Wind Rises’ (2013). The film will open the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (September 7 to 17). The film, produced by Studio Ghibli will make its international premiere at the festival and will also be the first animated film — also the first Japanese film — to open the Canadian festival.

‘The Boy and the Heron’ was released earlier this month in Japan. The 82-year-old Academy Award-winning visionary director, also the co-founder of Studio Ghibli has come out of retirement to make his 12th feature.

The film is stated to be Mizaki’s last feature film and the production house chose not to release any trailers, images and other promotion before the launch. Only a single poster was released.

‘The Boy and the Heron’ is a coming-of-age film about a 12-year-old boy named Mahito who loses his mother in a fire during the Pacific War. As Mahito tries to grapple with the grief of his dead mother, his father marries his mother’s younger sister — with whom he develops a tense relationship — and they all move to her estate in the countryside. The film follows the boy’s journey as he struggles to adjust in the new environment during which he meets a mysterious grey heron. He soon finds himself in an alternate world filled with magic.

‘Spirited Away’ (2001), ‘Porco Rosso’ (1992), ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ (1988), ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ (2004), ‘The Castle of Cagliostro’ (1979), ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ (1984) are some of Miyazaki’s best films. ‘The Boy and the Heron’ has been acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan.