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Understanding The Inspiration Behind Hayao Miyazaki’s Final Movie “How Do You Live?”
How to Make the Most of Miyazaki’s Final Film
NOTE: This article contains spoilers from the book How Do You Live?
Today, July 14, 2023, is the much-awaited date for Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki fans.
Miyazaki’s (possibly) final film, How Do You Live? is released today, and it’s shrouded in mystery as the sole teaser for it is a movie poster.
Since the movie is only available in Japan, and no international release dates have been announced yet, international fans can anticipate its worldwide release by understanding the inspiration behind the story.
How Do You Live? is a 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, and it’s the inspiration behind Hayao Miyazaki’s newest film. Miyazaki retired from film-making multiple times but came out of it once again to work on this project.
According to Penguin Books, producer Toshio Suzuki said Miyazaki worked on the film for his grandson as his way of saying “Grandpa is moving on to the next world soon, but he is leaving behind this film.”
Aware that death might come at any time, given his age, Miyazaki wanted to leave something behind. So should the time come when he’s no longer around, his loved ones will have this token as a memory of him.
According to Miyazaki, the film is not a direct adaptation of the book. Rather, the book exists in the film as something important to the young protagonist.
It’s not easy to summarize this book. The book talks about several things. It tells of the experiences of a young man, but it also educates us on practical things like history, science, and life lessons in general.
Perhaps it’s best to simply share where it started.
At a mall in Ginza, Copper was struck by the great number of people whose lives intertwine with his. Struck by this thought, he begins to wonder, how should we live?
Moved by life’s biggest questions for the first time, Copper turns to his dear uncle for heart-warming wisdom.
The uncle then guides Copper on a journey of philosophical discovery and offers poignant…
