Cert PG
127 mins
BBFC advice: Brief bloody image, smoking scene
Here's a curiosity: an animated biography of the chap who designed the aircraft used by Japan in the Second World War.
That's right, the ones associated with the bombing of Pearl Harbour and with Japan's infamous kamikaze missions.
And yet he was a particularly wholesome chap - at least if Studio Ghibli's A Wind Rises is to be believed.
Interestingly, Hayao Miyazaki's film was the biggest box office hit in Japan last year. Yes, a cartoon about one of the men behind Japan's infamous and, ultimately, disastrous war machine. Odd, isn't it?
Anyway, I took in The Wind Rises at the splendid Derby Quad's box on Thursday evening and the staff indicated it had been very popular here too.
As said, the film follows the life of Jiro Horikoshi (voiced by Hideaki Anno), who fell in love with planes in their earliest days, through the first passenger craft and up to the second world war.
It traces his admiration of great flight engineers, the collaboration with the Germans and the rivalry among his peers to come up with best designs.
The Wind Rises also contains the story of the tragic love of Horikoshi and tuberculosis-ridden Naoko Satomi (Miori Takimoto).
I can see why the film has won plaudits because it is beautifully made but, at first, thought its choice of hero was strange given Japan's role in the war.
However, I have since read that Horikoshi's personal diary made clear that he was aghast that his machines should have been used in the way that they were and he was strongly opposed to what he considered a futile conflict.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 7/10