Nausicaa Valley of the Wind (Hayao Miyazaki, 1984)

Themes

The main themes of Nausicaa Valley of the Wind●Post-Apocalyptic●Man-made disaster●Man vs Nature●Mutated Insects●Struggles over limited resources●Conflict between the path of peace and war

PlotA thousand years after a great war, a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind is one of the only areas which remains populated. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaa, the people of the Valley are engaged in a constant struggle with powerful insects called Ohmu, who guard a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth. Nausicaa and her brave companions, together with people of the valley, strive to restore the bondbetween humanity and the earth.

Around a thousand year ago man raged a destructive war against each other, almost wiping out the human race and causing huge environmental damage. In order to survive nature evolved, spreading a toxic jungle home to giant insects across the globe. The few humans that survived where forced to live in small communities out from the perils of the jungle, waiting for the prophecy to one day come true.

Nausicaa is the princes of a small village located in a valley on the edge of the toxic jungle. The people use the wind as a source of clean energy, and hope to rebuild civilisation without distorting nature. Nausicaa often ventures into the toxic jungle to gather supplies, learn about the jungle's origins and seeks to find away to cure the sickness that the toxins cause. Meanwhile, Yupa, a master swordsmen, travels across the land discovering more and more human settlement been claimed by the jungle and insects. Their paths cross at a time when Nausicaa's father is on his death bed.

Later that evening a cargo ship of the Kingdom of Tolmekia crash lands into the valley, within the crash Nausicaa finds the stolen princes of Pejite who pleads to her to destroy the cargo, which contains an embryo of a legendary bioweapon that was said to have destroyed the world in the Great War. The next they troops from the kingdom of Tolmekian kill the king of The Valley of the Wind and then subjugate the Valley and secure the Giant Warrior embryo. Kushana the princess of Tolmekian plans to mature the Giant Warrior and then use it to burn the Toxic Jungle, even though history warns of fatal consequences. Kushana soon tells the people of the Valley that she will leaving to go to a different place but will take four hostages with her, including Nausicaa. Before leaving, Nausicaa's master discovers her secret garden of jungle plants. Nausicaa tells him that plants that grow in clean soil and water are not toxic. The jungle's soil, however, has long been tainted by man. Showing she has the answer to the cure.

Kushana and her detachment never reach their destination, as an agile Pejite interceptor decimates the entire Tolmekian wing before being shot down. Nausicaa, Kushana and hostages crash-land in the jungle, disturbing several Ohmus, which Nausicaa soothes. She then leaves to rescue Asbel, the Pejite pilot and the twin brother of Lastelle, but both are swallowed by quicksand and end up in a non-toxic world below the jungle.

Nausicaa realizes that the jungle plants purify the polluted topsoil, producing clean water that remains hidden underground. Nausicaa and Asbel return to Pejite, only to find it ravaged by the insects. Pejite survivors, boarding a single plane, reveal that they lured the creatures to eradicate the Tolmekians and would do the same in the Valley to recapture the Giant Warrior. To prevent any intervention, they take Nausicaa captive, knocking Asbel out in process. Later, with the help of Asbel's mother, Nausicaa flees on a glider.

Narrative

While flying home,Nausicaa finds a team of Pejites using a wounded baby Ohmu to lead scores of enraged Ohmus into the Valley. Tolmekians deploy tanks and later the Giant Warrior against the herd to no avail: tanks prove too weak and the Giant Warrior, hatched ahead of time, soon disintegrates. Nausicaa liberates the baby Ohmu and gains its trust, in the process her pink dress becoming stained in the Ohmu's blue blood turns completely blue . Both land in front of the herd, but are run over. The herd, however, calms down. The Ohmus use their golden tentacles to heal Nausicaa's wounded body. Nausicaa awakens and starts to dance on top of the hundreds of glowing golden tentacles. Thus Nausicaa, "clad in blue and surrounded by fields of gold" fulfills the prophecy. Ohmus and Tolmekians leave the Valley afterwards.