Art Masterpieces Referenced in Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron

Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, The Boy and the Heron (2023), is densely packed with visual references to Western art masterpieces, including works by Giorgio de Chirico, Umberto Boccioni, René Magritte, Arnold Böcklin, Diego Velázquez, and filmmaker Jean Epstein. The film follows adolescent Mahito, whose mother died in a fire and whose father works in a warplane factory, as he encounters a talking heron and enters a fantastical parallel world. The movie has been interpreted as Miyazaki's potential final testament, given his age (83) and history of announced retirements. It won a Golden Globe and has been a box office success in Italy. The article specifically identifies seven citations: de Chirico's metaphysical piazzas in the final scenes, Boccioni's The City Rises in the opening fire sequence, Magritte's Clear Ideas in the floating stone, Fellini's 8½ in the aerial leg-dangling shot, Böcklin's Isle of the Dead during Mahito's journey, Velázquez's Entrance to a Cave in the castle view, and Epstein's The Fall of the House of Usher in the paper-strip suffocation scene. The film also explores spiritual themes of animism, destiny, and the cycle of death and rebirth.