The Wind Rises

  1. Overview
  2. Description
  3. Fact Sheet

"[…] Watching the sky,
Now no one understands
No one would understand
All they could think was…
“Too young”
Yet… happy [...]"

The Vapor Trail, Yumi Matsut?ya

Set in Japan during the Taish? period, young Jiro is inspired by the famous aircraft designer Giovanni Caproni and dreams of someday building a magnificent plane that will fly like the wind that he loves so much. Years later, in the midst of WWII, he designs the Zero fighter aircraft which becomes the best war plane in the world at the time.

Hayao Miyazaki united two men who lived during the thirties in order to create Jiro, the main character of the film which is both a fictional biography about the aircraft engineer Jiro Horikoshi and loosely based on the original short story The Wind Has Risen by Tatsuo Hori. Described by Miyazaki as a mix "of intense enthusiasm, overflowing excitement and extreme concentration", Jiro is a realist and an idealist, a go-getter and a dreamer, all at once. Fantasy is a central theme in the film which interlaces three types of imagery: cyclically portraying scenes of everyday life, technical explanations, but mostly emphasising the passionate dream sequences.

The Wind Rises does not preach anti-war, nor does it attempt to apologise for it. It's the story about a boy-turned-man and his passion, this dream that is both monumental and extremely dangerous and the strive for perfection that comes with its share of destruction.

The film

  • Film identity

    Original title: Kaze Tachinu

    Directed by: Hayao MIYAZAKI

    Country: Japan

    Year of production: 2013

    Running time: 02 h 06 min

  • Technique

    Category: Feature film

    Techniques used: 2D computer

    Version: Version originale japonaise sous-titrée français

    Process: Colour

    Target public: Young adults

  • Credits

    Directed by: Hayao MIYAZAKI

    Production: STUDIO GHIBLI, Toshio SUZUKI

    Distribution: THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY (FRANCE) S.A.

    Artistic direction: Yôji Takeshige

    Script: Hayao Miyazaki

    Animation: Kitaro Kosaka

    Music: Joe Hisaishi

    Editing: Takeshi Seyama

    Voice: Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima