Plot:
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind(Japanese)is adapted from Miyazaki Hayao’s comics and made into a film in 1984. The story sets in the future, when industrialcivilization reaches its peak, a war destroyedit all. Though a few human survive, the environment and the air in the forest are heavily polluted; most of the surface of the land is covered by the Sea of Corruption. Therefore human have to live under the threats of giant insects and poisonous gases.
Nausicaä is the princess of Valley of the Wind, a place where is not polluted, she is brave, kind and intelligent for she has resolved conflicts between human and insects for many times. She respects every living creature and communicates to them with her full heart. That’s how she finds out that the forest actually tries to purify the air and the insects help it to protect the environment.
However, wars between mankind never stop. Nausicaä tries her best to protectsthe insects from being destroyed by her enemy—other human armies. This young girl tries to achieve the harmony between human and other living creatures by sacrificing her life. Understanding her good intentions, the insects save her from death at last.
Comment:
Young as Nausicaä is, she is a girl of strong power. She uses her wisdom to save human who is haunted by the insect and then driving it back to the forest without hurting it. When facing with intrusion, she becomes brave and tenacious by fighting with the enemy, and she tries to save her villagers from being killed. She is so independent that she is not the one who needs to be protected but the one who protects others. Nausicaäi is the combination of soft and power; she represents for the hope of humanity.
In this film, the word princess no longer means a decent life or wealth or beauty. It is the responsibility, the responsibility for her people and for every life on this Earth, or even the Earth itself. It is kindness, the kindness that has nothing to do with being weak; but to show sympathy, listen to and understand others.
Though this work is created by a Japanese male over 2 decades ago, he sees woman as equal as or even more potential than man. This suggests in the 1980s, many people in this world have known the importance and potential of women, encouraged women’s bravery and believed in their ability to make a better world.