24 March: The Boy and the Heron

This week’s film is legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest masterpiece, The Boy and the Heron, released in 2023.

A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.

The Boy and the Heron is a film 10 years in the making, with every minute taking 60 animators a full month to complete. Its release as one of the most expensive Japanese films ever made was supported by a very unique marketing campaign– no proper trailer before it was released, no outdoor advertising, no tagline, no interviews with the studio nor cast, and not more than one poster. According to Miyazaki, this was of course all intentional– he wanted audiences to go in with as few expectations as possible.

The film won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, and again at the Golden Globes and the British Academy Film Awards. It was universally cited as a masterpiece, with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus reading: “Soulfully exploring thought-provoking themes through a beautifully animated lens, The Boy and the Heron is another Miyazaki masterpiece”.

Don’t miss one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2023, when The Boy and the Heron screens this Sunday, 24 March at 7pm for all IFS members at the Gala Cinema.

If you’re not yet a member of the 2024 Illawarra Film Society season, it’s still not too late! Sign up now and enjoy the remaining 25 films, screening weekly throughout the year, for just $99.