Kaze no tani no Naushika

I watched the DVD of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime epic today with Axel, who was (almost) glued to it throughout. It’s a spooky film, and I was worried he’d get nightmares, but he seems OK.

I didn’t realise the film was made twenty years ago. The first thing that struck me was how much The Matrix (and in particular Reloaded) plundered it for ideas: the sentinels are in it (well, as huge insects) and some scenes are extremely similar. There’s even a bit where Naushika is wrapped up in tendrils just like Neo is for the big showdown.

Actually, if I’m honest, the first thing I actually noticed was the fact that Naushika wears a very short skirt and apparently no knickers through most of the film – a point sagely debated at IMDB. I was in two minds about whether she was “going Scotch” until the shot in which Naushika has her back to us and a gust of wind blows her skirt up to reveal, well, her arse. Either that or transparent skin-tight underwear. And all this was discernable without recourse to the pause button.