Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind



Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 風の谷のナウシカKaze no Tani no Naushika, is the story of a young princess in a post-apocalyptic world in which humans must struggle to survive as the toxic Sea of Decay spreads across the Earth.

Summary
The story takes place 1,000 years after the "Seven Days of Fire", an event which destroyed human civilization and most of the Earth's original ecosystem. Scattered human settlements survive, isolated from one another by the Sea of Decay. Literally translated as the Rotting Sea, Sea of Fungus, Sea of Corruption or Toxic jungle in the English version, the Sea of Decay is a jungle of giant plants and fungi swarming with giant insects, which seem to come together only to wage war. Everything in the Sea of Decay, including the air, is lethally toxic.

The main protagonist, Nausticaä, is a charismatic young princess of the peaceful Valley of the Wind. Although a skillful fighter, Miyazaki's Nausicaä is humane and peace-loving. She has an unusual gift for communicating with the giant insects (particularly with the Ohmu, gigantic, armored, caterpillar- or isop-like insects who are the most intelligent creatures in the Sea of Decay. Their eyes turn red with rage and blue when calm). She is also noted for her empathy toward animals, humans, and other beings. An intelligent girl, and inspired by the mentor figure Yupa, a wandering samurai type possessed of great wisdom, Nausicaä frequently explores the Sea of Decay and conducts scientific experiments in an attempt to define the true nature and origins of the toxic world in which she lives. Her explorations are facilitated by her skill at "windriding"; flying with an advanced jet assisted glider craft. Yupa is searching for the mythological man in blue who, according to the legend, will appear surrounded by a sea of gold and reunite the people and nature.

One day, an airship crashes onto the cliffs near the Valley of the Wind. Nausicaä tries to rescue a shackled girl of her age from the burning wreck, but the girl dies after revealing that she is Princess Lastelle from the kingdom Pejite and that the cargo of the airship must be destroyed. The airship is from Tolmekia and the cargo turns out to be the embryo of a kyoshinhei (Giant Warrior in the English version), one of the lethal, giant biological weapons used in the ancient war.

It is later revealed that the Warrior embryo was unearthed by Pejite, but it was stolen by the more powerful state of Tolmekia (Torumekia in the manga). While transporting the Warrior and Lastelle (as a hostage) back to their realm, the Tolmekians were attacked by insects and later crash-land in the Valley. The next day, the Tolmekians, under the leadership of princess Kushana, invade the Valley to kill the Valley king and to secure and revive the Warrior. Kushana explains that the God Warrior will be used to burn the Sea of Decay, although Obaba, a blind elder Valley woman, warns that attempting so will only anger the Ohmu and lead to more deaths and turn the valley into part of the Sea of Decay.

Kushana attempts to return to Tolmekia, with Nausicaä and several others as hostages. Before their departure, Nausicaä reveals to Yupa a hidden garden of jungle plants which are not toxic because they are growing in sand and water from a deep, untainted well. Nausicaä explains that the jungle is only toxic due to the toxic soil that covers the surface of the earth, even in the Valley; she has been trying to find the cause and a possible cure for her people, including her now-dead father. Since she has to depart, however, she has shut down the water flows which keep the plants alive.

The airships are attacked by a Pejitan gunship and several of the ships are destroyed. Nausicaä and another hostage make their way to a gunship that the Tolmekians took, but before they can leave, Kushana joins them. They are forced to make an emergency landing in the Sea of Decay. There, Nausicaä communicates with several Ohmus and discovers that the pilot of the Pejitan gunship is still alive. With the help of her glider, Nausicaä rescues the pilot from a swarm of enraged insects. However, the plane crashes and, along with Nausicaä and the Pegitan pilot, ends up in a strange, non-toxic world that is below the Sea of Decay. Nausicaä realizes the plants in the Sea of Decay purify the polluted topsoil, producing clean water and sand which remains hidden in the underground world. The pilot reveals that he is Asbel of Pejite, the twin brother of princess Lastelle.

Meanwhile, the people of the Valley of the Wind request weapons from the occupying Tolmekians to destroy toxic spores, which have infested the valley's forest. Enraged that they have had to burn their forest because of the Tolmekians, the citizens revolt, attacking the Tolmekians who have taken over the castle. The Tolmekians counter, forcing the valley residents to flee to an ancient ship on the shore of the acid lake, with the Tolmekians in pursuit.

Nausicaä and Asbel return to Pejite, which is devastated after the Pejite people lured the insects from the Sea of Decay into their town in order to kill the occupying Tolmekian forces. The Pejite people reveal that they will do the same thing to the Valley of the Wind to recapture the Warrior. To prevent Nausicaä from alerting the Tolmekians, they capture her, but she escapes with the help of Asbel and his mother. With her glider, she heads to the Valley, but along the way she encounters an enormous herd of enraged Ohmus who are following an injured baby Ohmu being used by the Pejite people to lure the Ohmus to the Valley. Nausicaä releases the baby Ohmu and gains its trust.

Meanwhile, the Tolmekians attempt to stop the herd with their armored vehicles but fail. Kushana, who had escaped from the hostages, arrives with the God Warrior to stop the Ohmu herd. The Warrior fires several beams from its mouth which on impact cause nuclear-like explosions, killing hundreds of Ohmu in each blast, but this only serves to enrage the insects more. The Warrior attempts to continue fighting the Ohmu, but because it was awakened too early (before it could finish growing), it collapses and dies. However, Nausicaä and the baby Ohmu are finally able to stop the Ohmu herd, but she is mortally wounded in the process. In front of the Valley people and the Tolmekian forces, the Ohmus use their gold-colored tentacles to heal Nausicaä's injuries. Nausicaä's dress is then seen by all her village as now being of blue color, stained by the blood of the baby Ohmu she rescued; thus Nausicaä turns out to be the mythological "man" in blue mentioned in the beginning. The film ends with scenes of the future, where people and insects live in peace with each other. (This summary was taken from Wikipedia)

Themes
Humans vs. Nature

The conflict between humans and nature is a major theme in Nausicaä, as well as some other Miyazaki films. In Nausicaä, the conflict stems from the humans' misunderstanding of the purpose of the Sea of Decay. It is there to cleanse the Earth of the poisons that human beings put into it. The insects are its guardians, and as long as they are left in peace, they do not attack us. However, the Sea of Decay is toxic, and people can't live there. They need to keep the Sea from spreading everywhere, or else they will have nowhere to live. As the scenes at the end of the film depict, the best way for all is for people to live in harmony and balance with the Sea of Decay and the creatures that inhabit it.

The Struggle to Survive in Hopelessness

Another theme of Nausicaä is the struggle to survive in a hopeless world. This ties into the first theme as the struggle is against the ever-expanding Sea of Decay. At the beginning of the film, before we learn of the benefits of the Sea of Decay, it appears to be an unstoppable force bent on overtaking the whole world, eradicating the human race in the process. Though this turns out not to be the case, humans have been fighting against what they believed to be an overwhelming enemy. Yet they never gave in. Their place on the Earth seemed to be dwindling by the second, but they fought back for every square inch. The people were rewarded for their efforts in the end. By prelonging their existence, they finally learned to adapt and live along with the Sea of Decay.

Influences
The movie is based on a manga written by Miyazaki of the same name. He wrote the manga over a span of 12 years, taking breaks to work on various films. The manga is considered to be his life's work, and he worked through many difficult themes throughout, such as the conflict between humans and nature, the struggle to survive in a world of hopelessness, and even the meaning of life and death.

The inspiration for Nausicaä herself came from two sources. The first is a young princess in the Odyssey, also named Nausicaä. She was the daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians. She cared for Odysseus when he appears shipwrecked and naked on their shores. Author Bernard Evslin wrote adaptations of many Greek myths (occasionally changing them completely). However, in one of them, he embellished upon the character of the princess, portraying her as a great lover of nature.

The other model for Nausicaä comes from an old Japanese story called "The Princess who Loved Insects." The story is about a girl who, surprise, loved insects. As a result, she is considered very strange. Miyazaki has stated that Nausicaä is somewhat of a blend of the two characters.

Reception
Cannot find the revenue for this film. Any knowledge would be appreciated.

In terms of reviews, Nausicaä did quite well with both critics and fans. It received a score of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards

 * Best Short Film--FantaFestival
 * Readers' Choice Award--Kinema Junpo Award
 * Ofuji Noburo Award--Mainichi Film Concours

Cast
Japanese:
 * Nausicaä - Sumi Shimamoto
 * Lord Yupa - Gorou Naya
 * Kushana - Yoshiko Sakakibara
 * Asbel - Youji Matsuda
 * Kurotowa - Iemasa Kayumi
 * Mito - Ichirou Nagai
 * King Jihl - Mahito Tsujimura
 * Niga - Minoru Yada
 * Mayor of Pejite -
 * Rastel - Miina Tominaga
 * Oh-Baba - Hisako Kyouda
 * Rastel's Mother - Akiko Tsuboi

English:
 * Nausicaä - Alison Lohman
 * Lord Yupa - Patrick Stewart
 * Kushana - Uma Thurman
 * Asbel - Shia LaBeouf
 * Kurotowa - Chris Sarandon
 * Mito - Edward James Olmos
 * King Jihl/Niga - Mark Silverman
 * Mayor of Pejite - Mark Hamill
 * Lastelle (Rastel) - Emily Bauer
 * Obaba - Tress MacNeille
 * Peasant Girl - Ashley Rose Orr
 * Lastelle's (Rastel's) Mother - Jodi Benson