Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

In Hayao Miyazaki’s films, nature rages and humans are powerless towards it. Sometimes, they try to resist but always fail. In his works, the grand master of Japanese anime never intends to return to nature because in his eyes, it’s too harsh. You can only stand at a distance of it. But sometimes, the artificial merges with nature and ancient technologies of perished civilization become part of it. Thus, the conclusion is deduced: humanity is also a part of nature. This point of view is valid in “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”. Here, contaminated nature is the problem. A toxic Jungle has grown in the aftermath of an apocalyptic war and it is the result of human behaviour. This artificial nature discharges poison which makes humans sick. In Myazaki’s film of the early 80s, Nausicaä goes into this dangerous jungle to find a solution while Tolmekian’s Empire tries to burn it by resurrecting a weapon from ancient civilization. Which solution is better? The answer is clear: As long as humans are part of nature, the trial to conquer it will lead nowhere. And since the artificial is also a part of nature, don’t disturb it, but just carefully listen to its voice – just like Nausicaä does. This film is the updated version of a Japanese view on nature, and the question how we face contaminated nature is as relevant today as it was in 1984 when the film was first screened.