The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

The documentary was shot inside the Ghibli studio over a year. Two films are in preparation at once: Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises and Isao Takahata's Princess Kaguya. Mami Sunada mostly puts the camera beside Miyazaki's desk, and the man talks while he draws: his dissatisfaction with his own film, the contradiction of telling the story of a man who designed warplanes, the old friction with Takahata, and getting old. The producer Toshio Suzuki tries to hold the balance between two directors. Its best quality is that it inflates nothing; the studio is not a place of miracles but a workplace running on delay and doubt. At the end of the film Miyazaki announces he will retire. Who it is for: anyone curious about how animation is made and about Ghibli. Who it is not for: viewers who would rather keep the magic behind the films intact.