Cannes honors Studio Ghibli: Palme d'Or for a dream world

Cannes poster designed to honor Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985, this film studio nurtures the dreams of many children, or anyone who was once a child.

People who started watching cartoons at the age of the boy in Ponyo and now find themselves older than the airplane engineer in The Wind Rises.

Looking back for forty years

Both of the above films belong to Miyazaki Hayao's "post- Spirited Away " creative period, after he announced his retirement and then returned stronger and more energetic.

Miyazaki Hayao associated his name with Studio Ghibli or vice versa.

Born in 1941, Miyazaki was in his sixties when he created the masterpiece Spirited Away, the 2002 Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature.

More than twenty years later, he repeated the feat when The Boy and the Heron won an Oscar in 2024. This achievement, in Japan alone, only he could do, and he was 83 years old at that time.

Through his tenacious work, Miyazaki proves that it is never too late in art. Although the art world today is threatened by technology, the word blockbuster is not only for masterpieces but also for high-budget, high-profit films.

Ghibli Awards Night in Cannes 2024

That's not to say Studio Ghibli films are picky. When Princess Mononoke was released (1997), the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, Miyazaki announced his retirement.

But then Titanic took over. Miyazaki decided to return to animation, his passion and his agony. But why the agony?

If you watch the NHK documentary 10 Years in the Footsteps of Miyazaki Hayao , you will understand this. The process of making the film was like torture for him.

The old director lost sleep and appetite, scratched his head, and filled the wastebasket with useless sketches. The stress spread to his colleagues and juniors.

His demands for absolute perfection and extremism are not for everyone to bear.

There have been articles analyzing the dark corners of the "fairy world", where the beautiful dreams of millions of people are created from the suffering of a few individuals.

It's also a small blemish on the life of the greatest living animation director.

But, without that relentless perfectionism, would Miyazaki be so great?

His talent not only brought him fame, it also changed the way the world viewed animation. It was not just purely for children but a true masterpiece of cinema, where the seventh art flourished strongly with painting.

Perfectionism, the desire to do everything to perfection, comes from the Japanese identity. Before Miyazaki, Japanese cinema had Ozu and Kurosawa.

Miyazaki is very close to Kurosawa in terms of working spirit. Cinema fans must know the anecdote that Kurosawa built an entire castle to burn in a scene in his masterpiece Ran (1985).

Also at the 77th Cannes, a Kurosawa fan, Coppola, returned with the film Megalopolis , at the age of 85. Once again, it showed that world cinema can still believe in elders like Coppola or Miyazaki.

At the Cannes Film Festival's Honorary Palme d'Or ceremony on May 20, the organizers screened four short films written and directed by Miyazaki Hayao. An unprecedented event because three of the four short films had never been shown outside of Japan.

Autumn of the Elders

Miyazaki's shadow is so large that many people mistakenly think that Studio Ghibli is all about him. No, the studio is also home to the late Takahata Isao, co-founder of Studio Ghibli.

Ghibli, director of Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Kaguya. And Suzuki Toshio, the producer behind the studio's success.

Also in the 10 years following Miyazaki Hayao , the audience can see Suzuki's role as an organizer and connector with the studio members or as an "ambassador" of the Miyazaki father and son.

Miyazaki Goro represents Studio Ghibli to receive the Honorary Palme d'Or at Cannes 2024

Goro is Hayao's son, but they don't get along very well. Miyazaki Sr. is not very pleased that his son follows in his footsteps.

For Miyazaki Sr., the directing profession is extremely arduous and not for the weak, one must work until one's nose bleeds to be able to create excellent works.

With such hardships, Miyazaki Hayao has announced his retirement several times, although Studio Ghibli fans are still waiting for his next work.

However, the survival of a studio will not only depend on a few outstanding individuals, it will also be the contribution of the whole team, those who are loyal to the old principles to ensure the creation of works that honor human creativity and talent.

The truth is that after Takahata Isao passed away in 2018, no matter how strong Miyazaki Hayao was, he could not defeat time.

And whether Studio Ghibli's glory can be maintained depends on the next generation of directors, represented by Miyazaki Goro.

In Miyazaki Hayao's films, the world is always threatened by dark, ominous premonitions. Because of war, because of environmental destruction, because of human greed.

Miyazaki's statements once went viral on social media, hiding behind them doubts about the future.

Gorō Miyazaki receives the Honorary Palme d'Or from Juan Antonio Bayona at Cannes 2024

However, the characters in his films never stop fighting for their ideals and for their love. Just like how Miyazaki stays faithful to hand-drawn drawings to resist films produced by machines when the film industry increasingly abuses the role of special effects and artificial intelligence.

The Palme d'Or for Studio Ghibli would honor more than just a studio. It would also pay tribute to an era of animation that, at its peak, was looming in decline.

Not because audience tastes have changed, but because creators seem to have lost faith in the limitless possibilities of humankind.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cannes-ton-vinh-studio-ghibli-canh-co-vang-cho-the-gioi-mong-mo-20240521102407127.htm