Connection To The Earth: Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind

    Since the industrial revolution, our world has changed like never before. Both for better and for worse. Today we are facing and will continue to face the effects of pollution and global warming. In the films of Hayao Miyazaki, you will find environmental messages and themes; and Miyazaki's Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind carries such points with intensity. Spoilers Ahead

     Once upon a time, a thousand years from now, the last few kingdoms of humanity struggle to survive in a world that is mostly covered by a jungle of toxic air, plants, and giant insects. These kingdoms are hostile and warlike, except for the Valley of the Wind. Here the people work hard and live their lives in peace, awaiting the day that the prophecy will be fulfilled when a person dressed in blue will come forth on fields of gold to restore mankind's connection with the earth. Ruling this valley is King Jhil and his daughter, Princess Nausicaa, a strong woman skilled in flying and technology. Very loved by her people, Nausicaa cares for all living things, having a gift for calming the Ohms and other insects so prone to anger towards humans. A millennium has passed since the Seven Days of Fire, a cataclysmic event in which the world was incinerated by Giant Warriors, giant humanoid beings created by humans as weapons. After the Seven Days of Fire, Giant Warriors went mostly extinct. But now an embryo containing an undeveloped Giant Warrior has been found underground by the Pejite and taken by the Tolmekians. After an airship containing the embryo crash lands into the Valley of the Wind, the Tolmekians arrive and take control. Now the human kingdoms stand at the brink of war and the insects could be driven to rage, and it's up to Nausicaa to convince both the humans and the insects that the killing must stop. Will Nausicaa be able to bring peace to her world? Or will the Valley of the Wind and the remainders of mankind be destroyed?

    The people in Nausicaa's time are well aware that the humans of the past are responsible for the harsh environment they live in now. Although this scenario is on the extreme side, it is still relevant and meant to make an impact on the audience. In the Valley of the Wind, the air is for the most part breathable. Because of the jungle outside the valley however, its poisons eventually take their toll on the elderly, causing their health to decline. This unfortunately sometimes happens in our own world when polluted environments have their effects on nearby residents, such as Japanese citizens contracting cancer after the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In the film Nausicaa finds that plants that were once deadly can be made harmless and pure with clean soil and water, and that trees in the jungle are purifying the toxic soil that ends up in an underground world beneath the jungle. Miyazaki's message is clear: Now is the time to care for our plants, our water, our air, and our earth. 

   Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind is one of the more violent of Miyazaki's films. It carries not only a message against pollution, but a message against war. The Giant Warriors were created by humans as weapons of war, and may represent the evils of nuclear weapons. Now in the time of Nausicaa, the Tolmekians seek to use the Giant Warrior as a means of destroying the toxic jungle and/or ruling the world once again; even though the use of the Giant Warriors in the past resulted in the Seven Days of Fire. Nausicaa does everything in her power to stop the fighting and killing among the different peoples around her. She doesn't want anyone else to die after the Tolmekians invaded her valley and her father was murdered. Miyazaki's message against war is also clear. We protect ourselves by caring for our environment, and by avoiding the violence and devastation of war. 

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