Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
A look at legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki following his retirement in 2013.
This intimate documentary captures Miyazaki post-retirement with remarkable access, showing the master grappling with creative restlessness and the emergence of CGI tools. Its novelty is genuinely high — a fly-on-the-wall portrait of one of animation's greatest minds wrestling with mortality and craft is singular viewing. The cinematography is functional but occasionally striking in capturing his workspace and sketchbooks. There's no traditional 'acting' to judge beyond Miyazaki's unguarded self-presentation, which is candid but unperformed. The narrative arc is modest but emotionally resonant, and the ending — showing Miyazaki returning to work on a new project — is quietly poignant without being overtly dramatic.