1,000 years after a great fire following apocalyptic battle amidst the ruins of a dying earth, a warrior princess leads her people and tries to prevent two warring factions from colliding. "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" is the second film from beloved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, and also a feature length film of a television serial he championed. While the film has a strong female protagonist and an important environment message, it is largely impenetrable and suffers greatly from overlength. Is it wrong to be resistant to the works of someone who is widely considered a master of his craft? Miyazaki's films are beautifully animated and are moralistic fables that differ greatly from the pap we are often served here, but as with "Nausicaa", I often find them to be rugged, indecipherable, and too hard to become engaged with.
