Miyazakiworld

A Life in Art

By: Susan Napier

Narrated by: Susan Napier

The story of filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's life and work, including his significant impact on Japan and the world

A thirtieth-century toxic jungle, a bathhouse for tired gods, a red haired fish girl, and a furry woodland spirit - what do these have in common? They all spring from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest living animators, known worldwide for films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and The Wind Rises.

Japanese culture and animation scholar Susan Napier explores the life and art of this extraordinary Japanese filmmaker to provide a definitive account of his oeuvre. Napier insightfully illuminates the multiple themes crisscrossing his work, from empowered women to environmental nightmares to utopian dreams, creating an unforgettable portrait of a man whose art challenged Hollywood dominance and ushered in a new chapter of global popular culture.

©2018 Susan Napier (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Repetitive and not that biographical

I was hoping to read a biography, especially cause author says that there’s next to none written about Miyazaki, instead we’ve got a book long film-review with speculations about the artistic choices. Moreover, the same theories were repeated throughout the entire book in every review. I hoped that the works of the great animator were going to be a mere chronological framework to structure the narrative about his life, but we barely heard a few words about his children or wife, or life in general. In that regard, it was a disappointment.

Inspiring and insightful

Constantly left me feeling and thinking long after I paused listening. Part history/background to the movies, part philosophy.

If you love his movies, please listen to this book

A marvelous historical and cultural context for his work, jargon-free, one chapter per film. If you have ever wondered about the contrast between the gorgeous visuals and the complicated and often contradictory elements of his plots you'll find much illumination here. I own all of his films, rewatched many times and I thought I knew them, but the experience of watching them yet again will be much the richer for Napier's insights.

I love Miyazaki's work

...and I thought this description and analysis of his work was very interesting although I may not have agreed with everything! It gave me more insight into Miyazaki's life and his thought process during the making of his very famous and amazing movies. It's a quite nice listening if you are interested in them and love Studio Ghibli.

Surprising and Delughtful

I was not sure what to expect from this book, but I really love Miyazaki and the films from Studio Ghibli. This gave enough background to really be interesting but also tied in elements and timelines based on the movies so it was really easy to follow and added so much to the movies.

A must read for all Miyazaki & Ghibli fans!

A great book which gives us an inside look in the life and work of Hayao Miyazaki. The author/narrator did a wonderful job balancing different aspects of the life, work and opinions of Miyazaki while shareinf her own. Both biography and film review, it allows us to go back to each Miyazaki film and appreciate it in an individual and deep way. I took my time listening to this book because I wanted to watch each film after its chapter (each chapter focuses on a film). This book is perfect for fans and future fans of the director. It allowed me to rediscover his films which I have loved (and watched many times!) for years.

Pretty Alright

Fans of Miyazaki will enjoy this book but you might roll your eyes at all the arm chair psychology.

Insightful and enchanting

Such a kind way of looking at the Studio Ghibli word and history of its creator.

Interesting Miyazaki bio

Loved it! Was a great listen and very interesting in depth review of the man and his work.

A must read

A great book that I use in my film studies class. The second semester needs an equivalent book focusing on the other half of the Ghibli catalog, films directed by others in the Studio's stable. Some of those are actually my favorites. In any case, for my foreign students new to Japan, I can think of no better introduction. Thank you, Prof Napier.