Corliss: A Tribute to Japan's Movie Master

With a daring war film, Hayao Miyazaki lays down his pen

Ghibli / Nibariki / GNDHDDTK / Disney

Director Miyazaki says The Wind Rises will be his final film.

Moviemaking, which requires a field marshal's gift for strategy and a foot soldier's fortitude, is supposed to be a young person's game. And occasionally, directors in their prime get weary of scouting locations and coaxing another take from a temperamental star. Steven Soderbergh, who directed 25 features in as many years, has called it quits at 50, saying, "For the foreseeable future, the movie door is closed." Kevin Smith (10 features since his 1994 debut with Clerks) tweeted in December, "My last cinematic effort as a writer/director will be Clerks III." He's all of 43. But most helmers keep going as...

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