Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

When it comes to humanity's relationship with nature, I feel there are two fundamental attitudes. There is the attitude of domination that wishes to control, subjugate and exploit nature for selfish, egotistical ends. Then there is the attitude of cooperation that aims to work with nature in a considerate and mutually respectful way. Sadly, "civilised" groups have from their inception been driven by the attitude of domination, strongly evidenced by patriarchy, organised religion and scientific materialism, and reaching a culmination with the massively destructive effects we have been having on our environment in recent times.

As an interconnected, profit-driven global society, we continue to exploit our environment. We are generating high amounts of fossil fuels, polluting the air and accelerating global warming. We are industrially trawling the oceans for fish, obliterating marine ecosystems. We are involved in industrial animal agriculture, which entails the mass destruction of forests, ocean dead zones, an over-use of pesticides and an over-production of the gases nitrous oxide and methane. The effects and implications of these practices are staggering and concern the very survival of life on Earth.

Nausicaä riding next to an ohmu

Released in 1984, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is the quintessential environmental film. In this film we find a female protagonist showing how everyone might relate to nature in an aligned, sensitive and empathetic way. Like Princess Mononoke (1997), Nausicaä is full of insight and contains vital lessons for humanity.

Nausicaä began as a manga in 1982. This beautiful, meticulously rendered manga was created by Hayao Miyazaki and completed in 1994. Miyazaki also wrote and directed the film adaptation. The manga differs from the film in various ways. In terms of plot, it is more complex. The story is also quite different. For example, the villain in the manga, Miralupa, who poses the greatest threat to Nausicaä, is not in the film.

The Nausicaä film was a significant benchmark in Miyazaki's career, employing many themes that recur throughout his oeuvre. In Nausicaä we find a multi-faceted female hero, a powerful female villain, a critique of human actions, flight as a strong theme, and powerful environmental messages.

Nausicaä was produced by Miyazaki's long time friend, associate and fellow director, Isao Takahata. The great success and popularity of Nausicaä in Japan initiated the rise of Studio Ghibli, encouraging Miyazaki and Takahata to make films in their own unique ways. It was also Miyazaki's first collaboration with music composer Joe Hisaishi, who did the soundtrack for Nausicaä and all Miyazaki's subsequent films.

Nausicaä, though just as rich and imaginative, is less fantastical than Miyazaki's other works. One would best categorise it as science fiction. It takes place on an Earth 1000 years in the future, after the failure and collapse of industrial civilisation and the destruction caused by "the seven days of fire", generated by the powerful warrior gods. Nature has made the world a dangerous and toxic place for humans to live in. Human societies still cling on, but plant life and insects dominate. The sea of corruption, not actually an ocean but a giant ever-spreading toxic forest, poses a constant threat to the human inhabitants of this future world, releasing deadly toxins that can kill humans and their crops.

Nausicaä is a princess of The Valley of the Wind tribe, daughter of the ailing King Jhil. Nausicaä swiftly appears as a charismatic and sensitive character, saving Lord Yupa, a member of The Valley of the Wind tribe and a master swordsman, from an enraged ohmu in one of the first scenes of the film.The ohmu are giant terrestrial insects who hold a highly prominent place in the film. In Nausicaä the great, enigmatic and mystical ohmu may be seen as symbols of the Earth, nature or our environment.

Nausicaä saving Lord Yupa from an enraged ohmu

Kushana leads the Tolmekians and, like Lady Eboshi from Mononoke, is one of Miyazaki's charismatic and powerful female villains. She is partly constituted of prosthetic robotic limbs due to an insect attack and is consequently consumed by a deep hatred for the insects and the sea of corruption. In the manga, Kushana's character is fairly different, where we learn more of her past and sympathise with her more. In the film we find out that, in order to burn and purge the sea of corruption, Kushana is attempting to revive one of the dormant warrior gods, which was unearthed from the kingdom of Pejite. The warrior gods may be seen as agents of pure destruction.

Nausicaä is not detached from experience and nature in the way that many others are. She is highly sensitive and receptive to her environment. From one of the Tolmekian air-crafts in which she is being held, Nausicaä spots something soaring from above. As the soaring object gradually crystallises into view, we see it is a gun-ship. Nausicaä views the gun-ship destroy a huge Tolmekian vessel and screams in desperation. Nausicaä is so strongly attuned to her environment that she can personally and physically feel each death or harmful act that occurs around her. She can't fathom why humans would inflict such unnecessary violence upon each other.

There is a cut to an effective dream sequence. Hisaishi's theme song for Nausicaä is heard in a soft and echoed way and the animation is sketched and simplified. We are seeing things from Nausicaä's perspective as a child. We hear Nausicaä resisting the adults who tower over her, whose many hands are seen prominently, as they are trying to take something from her. She is guarding a baby ohmu from them, crying "no, don't kill it!". This scene emotionally reiterates Nausicaä's relationship with the creatures around her, particularly the ohmu. We learn that she has always had a strong, intuitive and emotional bond with her environment.

Nausicaä finds herself in a large underground forest. We learn that the expansive area in which she has found herself is underneath the sea of corruption and is devoid of toxicity. Nausicaä surmises that the sea of corruption is purifying the polluted water and soil of Earth. We can thus deduce that the toxicity of the forest was caused solely by humans, via the god warriors and the seven days of fire, and that the sea of corruption has been involved in a purifying process ever since. This element of the plot may be seen as a strong social comment on humanity's development of toxic weaponry and pollution of our environment. Significant examples of the use of toxic weaponry that come to mind are the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the use of Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide used to destroy crops and forests, in Vietnam. Both employed by the U.S and both still, after more than half a century, having toxic effects. It is also worth noting that the nuclear bombs were dropped on Miyazaki's homeland.

Nausicaä underneath the sea of corruption

Nausicaä goes to the kingdom of Pejite, which she finds has been devastated by charging ohmu. Pejite forces had angered the ohmu in order to quell the Tolmekian forces and aim to direct the rampaging ohmu to the valley of the wind, where the Tolmekians are based. The Pejite want to take back the warrior god in order to do exactly what the Tolmekians aim to do with it, purge their enemies and the sea of corruption. On discovering this, Nausicaä's disillusionment and desperation reappear. She screams for the Pejite to desist their plans. The Pejite are just as blind as the Tolmekians. They are unaware that by retaliating and attempting to purge their apparent enemies, they are perpetuating unnecessary conflicts. One can draw a parallel here with the war-mongering tendencies of recent Western governments. The ongoing, so-called "War on Terror" has undoubtedly fuelled war, death, hatred and extremism. Nausicaä is the only character in the film who has an accurate insight into the existing problems and dilemmas. Her desperation is thus an understandable and plausible reaction.

Nausicaä further discovers that the Pejite are using an intentionally maimed baby ohmu, hanging from a cable on an air-craft, to maintain the fury of the masses of ohmu. She attempts to save the baby, flying toward the Pejite who have captured it while being shot at. In spite of bullet wounds, her determination remains, steadfast, as she releases the ohmu and stops the Pejite with one of their guns. Nausicaä comforts the baby and stops it from crawling into an acidic lake which surrounds them. Nausicaa is burnt by the lake trying to help the baby. Her reactions belie desperation, again, mixed with an unwavering, indefatigable concern for the maimed ohmu.

Meanwhile, the valley inhabitants and the Tolmekians, including Kushana, face a vast sea of stampeding ohmu. The wise woman of the valley informs us that the rage of the ohmu is the rage of the Earth itself. They can't be stopped. Kushana still attempts to use the undeveloped warrior god to destroy the ohmu, but fails. Hope for escaping the raging ohmu appears lost.

Nausicaä appears with the baby ohmu, using the Pejite air-craft. She demands to be dropped, with the baby, in front of the stampeding ohmu, to the dismay of the valley people. There is a cut to Yupa, who is aboard a Pejite air-craft. The sea of ohmu below, while glowing red with fury before, gradually, from a central point, start glowing blue. They are calmed. It is Nausicaä's unconditional devotion to her environment that resolves matters. She has returned the baby and given her life to calm the masses of angered ohmu. But the ohmu lift Nausicaä's limp body with their long tendrils and rejuvenate her. We thus find that by fully and genuinely caring for our environment, our environment will work with us in a dynamic relationship of love, trust and cooperation. This scene is very emotional and expresses an incredibly vital message to humanity.

Image from the Nausicaä manga

During the film's development Nausicaä emerges as a powerful, multi-dimensional and incredibly likeable character. She has a unique and infinitely admirable affinity with the insects, and by extension nature, and she is consistently decisive, determined and steadfast. Nausicaä is an inspirational female hero, who shows us that if we are sensitive and receptive to our environment, if we learn to understand it properly, then we can live in a kind of harmony with it.

There is the argument that Nausicaä does not give enough information regarding the time and place in which it is set, unlike the manga which provides more context. The manga, for example, explains the Daikaisho and gives more detail as to how the sea of corruption was formed. In this respect, the film may have been more effective if done in two instalments. Or it could make an effective TV series. Ultimately, however, I do feel that enough information is provided for the film to work well and make sense.

Nature is the most prominent theme in Nausicaä, where we have a future projection of our world in which plants and insects dominate. Powerful social comments can be found in the film. War, environmental pollution and the use of toxic weaponry is heavily criticised. More broadly, the film criticises the blind, one-sided and egotistical acts of humans. The film explores two ways of relating to nature, as outlined earlier. It shows us, as an interconnected global society, that cooperating with our environment, as opposed to exploiting it, is how we will solve our greatest problems.