風の谷のナウシカ (1984)
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A pacifist princess must navigate a deadly, toxic jungle and a warring empire in a post-apocalyptic world.
The story
Set in a post-nuclear futuristic world, the film follows Nausicaä, the pacifist teenage princess of the Valley of the Wind. She finds herself caught in a conflict with the Tolmekian Empire, a militaristic power attempting to use an ancient, devastating weapon to destroy a vast, toxic jungle filled with giant, mutant insects. Nausicaä seeks to understand the jungle's ecosystem and find a way for humanity and the mutated creatures to coexist, even as the threat of war looms from the neighboring empire.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
One thousand years after the 'Seven Days of Fire' destroyed civilization and created the Toxic Jungle, Princess Nausicaä explores the forest and communicates with its creatures, including the armored Ohm. When a Tolmekian cargo ship crashes in her valley, it carries an embryo of a Giant Warrior—a massive bioweapon. Princess Kushana leads a Tolmekian invasion to seize the embryo and destroy the jungle. Nausicaä discovers that the jungle's soil is toxic due to pollution, but the plants actually purify the environment. After a series of skirmishes and a journey to the ruined city of Pejite, Nausicaä realizes the local people are also using the Ohm as weapons. In the climax, the Giant Warrior hatches prematurely and disintegrates. Nausicaä ultimately leads the people to realize the truth of the forest, and the Ohm and Tolmekians eventually leave the valley as the people begin to rebuild.
- Original title
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
- First release year
- 1984
- Runtime (minutes)
- 117
- Production countries
- Japan
- Original languages
- Japanese
- Directors
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Writers
- Hayao Miyazaki · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Sumi Shimamoto · Nausicaä; Gorō Naya; Yōji Matsuda; Yoshiko Sakakibara; Iemasa Kayumi
- Genres
- animated; post-apocalyptic; fantasy
- Themes
- anti-war; environmental focus
- Tone and mood
- serious; spiritual
- Premise and plot tags
- post-apocalyptic; fantasy; environmentalism
- Source material / true-story basis
- manga
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest animated films, serving as a seminal influence on the development of anime.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 86 · scale: 100 · review count: 7
- Production trivia
- The film was produced by Topcraft and distributed by Toei Company.; It was released before Studio Ghibli was founded but is often considered a Ghibli work.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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