The news hit the Venice FilmFestival unexpectedly: Hayao Miyazaki, the world’s most honored creator of animated features, was ending his movie career.
Koji Hoshino, who is the president of Mr.Miyazaki’s production company, made the announcement at the film festival, where Mr.Miyazaki’s latest work, The Wind Rises,was shown. 「Miyazaki has decided that The Wind Rises will be his last film, and he will now retire,」 said Mr.Hoshino. The language of the announcement is believed to have left the door open for Mr.Miyazaki to work on shorter projects.
Mr.Miyazaki’s latest work has been met with some controversy in Japan and in Republic of Korea.The Wind Rises is a fictional account on the life of JiroHorikoshi,the engineer who designed the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a fighter plane used in the attack on Pearl Harbor in1941. Some Japanese conservativeshave criticized Mr.Miyazaki for the film’s antiwar stance, while some Internet users in Republic of Korea have accused him of romanticizing the inventor of a plane that became a symbol for the Japanese military during World War II.
The controversy, however, doesn’t change the fact that Mr.Miyazaki is one of the most celebrated figures in animated filmmaking.
The72-year-old has directed11animated features over 34 years, including the international hits My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Awayand Howl’s Moving Castle.
In the age of digital animation(and live action ), Mr.Miyazaki has remained faithful to the hand-drawn technique. His movies,known for their entertaining plots, compellingcharacters and breathtaking animation, won him critical acclaimas well as public recognition. In2003,Mr.Miyazaki won an Oscar for best animated feature for Spirited Away, and he was awarded a Golden Lionfor lifetime achievement at the Venice FilmFestivalin2005.
It’s doubtless a shame if animation buffs will really see no more new works from the legend. May his announced retirement be a brief, dark whim. May he go on enchanting moviegoers for years to come.
威尼斯電影節上傳來了令人驚訝的消息：全球享譽盛名的動畫片創作者宮崎駿宣布給自己的電影職業生涯劃上句號。
宮崎駿工作室的現任社長星野康二先生在電影節上宣布了這一消息。宮崎駿的封山之作《起風了》在電影節上放映。星野康二說：「宮崎駿已經做出了決定，《起風了》將是他的最後一部電影。他現在可以退休了。」宣布這個消息時的用詞讓人們覺得以後宮崎駿還有可能會參與到短片項目的製作中。
宮崎駿的這部最新作品在日本和韓國引起了一些爭議。《起風了》虛構了堀越二郎的故事，他是設計了用於襲擊美國珍珠港的零式艦載戰鬥機的工程師。一些日本保守派人士批評宮崎駿在影片中所體現出來的反戰立場，而一些韓國網民則指責他將這位創造者的生平浪漫化，畢竟堀越二郎創造了象徵二戰期間日本軍隊的戰鬥飛機。
然而，這些爭論無法改變的事實是：宮崎駿是動畫電影製作界中最負盛名的人物之一。
在這34年間，這位72歲的導演曾經執導過11部動畫長片，其中包括《龍貓》、《幽靈公主》、《千與千尋》和《哈爾的移動城堡》，這幾部動畫片都在全球市場上引起了不小的轟動。
在數字動畫（和真人實景電影的）時代，宮崎駿依然堅持使用手繪技術。輕鬆愉快的劇情、令人信服的角色以及嘆為觀止的動畫技術，他的電影作品贏得了觀眾們的認可。2003年，宮崎駿憑藉《千與千尋》贏得了奧斯卡最佳動畫長片；2005年，他在威尼斯電影節上被授予了榮譽金獅獎。
如果動畫迷們再也看不到這位動畫傳奇的更多新作品，那毫無疑問將會是一件遺憾的事。希望他宣布退休只是一次短暫的、憂鬱的心血來潮而已。希望他能在未來的歲月裡一直給影迷們帶來驚喜。
（來源：英語學習雜誌 編輯：丹妮）