Angelina Tran - The Boy and The Heron Analysis

I was not aware until the class that we would be watching The Boy and the Heron. It made sense as the movie was very symbolic about internal and external journeys. Hearing that we would be watching the movie made me very eager to analyze the movie again in a different lens. Before this class started, I actually already watched the movie and did a little bit of research on the movie in my free time. However, I originally watched the movie with English subtitles but for the class showing the movie was dubbed in English. I do not remember the exact translations for the subtitles when I first watched the movie but I couldn't help but notice that the expressions in words felt different yet similar. The difference in translations reminded me of our class discussion about how translations change over time and may give different meanings when the translation was changed from "bowels of compassion" to "tender mercies". Similarly, the difference in English subtitles vs English dubbed gave some of the characters like the boy Mahito, more anger and the heron a more humorous personality. From what I remembered, the boy gave more calmer expressions and the heron gave more of a scheming joker.

Now, for the symbolic scenes in the movie, the messages were conveyed in a different light than I first perceived. For example, the use of fire as both a traumatic scene vs the scene that saved Mahito. In the traumatic scene I remember noticing how the scene was very flowy and hazy like fire but did not go deeper into how it expressed the trauma. The flowy fire blurring the screen and surrounding Mahito created a sense of chaos and constantly changing flashes of the memory when Mahito’s mother passed in a burning hospital. Overall, the way the scene was created with fire surrounding all and creating a hazy effect emphasized how traumatic and life-changing his mother’s passing was. In contrast, it will be revealed that the Himi, the magical fire girl was Mahito’s mother's younger self who saved Mahito from getting eaten by the parakeets in the new world. The fact that Mahito’s mother was able to save Mahito through fire seemed to be a sign that Mahito was learning to cope with her fiery death. For the scenes with the granduncle wanting Mahito to take his place, I remember researching its meaning before the class showing. I read that the scene could have represented the director’s struggle with learning to accept that his own son will not take his position as a director for these movies. This is a common theme I have seen in other movies and shows that is heartbreaking to think about from both positions. The son like in the movie does not want to take the place but would still feel guilty for being the “end” of the world or the business. In the position of the grandfather or elder relative, the hard and long work they have put into the business feels at a loss if the business or world ends with you instead of continuing as your family legacy. These were just a few symbols and themes I caught on while watching the movie twice but there were many more I could not touch on. The symbol of the tower and parakeet king were some of these symbols that represent bigger and more common life themes of between realities and violence. Overall, the movie and the journey of Mahito represented the internal and external journeys of coping with trauma and showcasing it from a Japanese cultural perspective. The Boy and the Heron was a children’s movie hiding more meaning than anticipated. It was a movie full of enjoyment and analysis that makes me want to analyze more of Studio Ghibli movies.