Castle in the Sky

In Castle in the Sky, Miyazaki presents a unique world where flying machines have been became meticulously advance. Through this film, Miyazaki takes us on a grand adventure through his artwork. This film brings light to man's relationship with nature amidst the growing presence of technology. Analyzed in greater depth, his films show us how these conflicts result in war.

After the opening sequence, when Sheeta falls from the airship, Miyazaki introduces a history of the world’s technological advancements during the opening credits. The sequence begins with a shot of clouds and a woman, possibly goddess, blowing a gust of wind from the left side of the screen. The scene then cuts to shot of a man powering a single propeller as the clouds float gently by toward the right side of the screen. In juxtaposition to the previous shot, we can interpret this scene as nature supporting mankind in obtaining wind energy. The woman in the clouds is represented as nature while the man below is represented as mankind. Miyazaki progresses further with this sequence of technological growth by showing more advancement in mankind’s machines. As the camera pans down, we see multiple windmills as well as machines that resemble oilrigs. The scene then cuts to a shot of a miner underground mining for coal. With the scene cutting back to the surface, we see that there are even more oilrigs as well as many chimneys producing large amounts of smoke. Miyazaki now shows us mankind’s move from wind energy to coal energy. He then cuts back into the sky with images of aircrafts, each becoming more advanced with every new shot. The next scene is a close-up shot of a castle top, which zooms outward showing that mankind has become advanced that they have the power to levitate buildings. Miyazaki continues to amazes the audience by showing us shots of multiple castles flying in the sky. He then cuts to a side view of the castles showing us what’s underneath. From what started as a single propeller has now evolved into thousands of propellers. In order to show that mankind’s technology has advanced too far, Miyazaki cuts to a thunderstorm striking the airships, bringing mankind back to the ground. Miyazaki comes full-circle in the opening credits by cutting back to the shot of the goddess blowing a gust of wind, however, instead of a man next to the propeller we see Sheeta and a yak, gazing over the field. Already from the opening credits, Miyazaki presents us with mankind’s past mistakes with technology. By cutting back to the single propeller, he begins the film by making us wonder if the same cycle will happen again.

Another thing I found interesting is the way Miyazaki portrayed the robot as highly destructive and technologically advanced, but at the same time as a caring nature-loving creature. A good example is the scene when Sheeta is held captive in the fortress. In this scene, as Colonel Muska confronts Sheeta about the powers of the stone, Miyazaki cross-cuts to close-up shots of the robot’s arm and leg. In the first close-up shot we see the robot moving its fingers, giving us the idea that it is human-like. In the next close-up shot, we see the wires from inside its broken leg, which resemble human muscles due to its red color and organic movements. Although the robot appears to have human-like qualities, it is still something to be feared. Even with a missing arm and leg, the robot proves capable of wreaking havoc upon the military with a single laser beam, all while trying to protect Sheeta. In this sequence, Miyazaki goes to the extreme of showing us what is it like to have an enormous amount of power. The result of seeing highly advanced technology at work tells us that there are things that mankind isn’t ready to handle.

After having witnessed the robot’s destructive capabilities, we begin to question whether it is more like a human or truly a monster. However, as the fortress begins to collapse, the robot decides to move Sheeta to a safe place, right before being destroyed by the airship Goliath. The robot, in its last moments, makes the sacrifice of protecting Sheeta from harm. The scene ends with us believing that there is more to this robot than just being a weapon for war.