Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind shows us a desolate and inhospitable world, one much like those of other sci-fi action movies of the 80s which depict post-apocalyptic or alien worlds.  

The early scenes of this film depict Nausicaä's procedural knowledge.  She shows us how to work things, a way of living in this strange world.  Her methods give the world texture.  The same goes for the different outfits and styles of the people from different nations. 

In particular, she's good at handling agitated people and nonhuman animals.  Teto bites her finger when she reaches out to it, but she remains calm until he realizes she isn't a threat.  She treats the baby Ohm and Pejite warriors the same way.  

The Ohm are gigantic bugs with tentacles, dozens of sharp legs, and several rows of opaque, featureless eyes.  They move in layered segments.  Nausicaä respects them, and it's through her that we come to understand that their dignity.  Nausicaä's unwavering compassion bothers some viewers, but the core of this film is the connection between the depth of her commitment and her understanding of the world.  In Diary of a Country Priest, the title character shows his absolute openness by accepting a misbehaving child; Nausicaä shows something similar by showing generosity to alien creatures.

The Tolmekian soldiers who invade the Valley of the Wind try to maintain control over the populace but are forced to loosen their grip to keep the Valley in a habitable state.  The film's primary villain, Kushana, attempts to use the Giant Warrior against the Ohm but fails because it took too much to get off the ground.  In Nausicaä, doing anything big is difficult and awkward, whether it's farming, building, or waging war.  None of it would work without special beliefs and values that bind people together.

This is why the depiction of specific, material details of its world goes hand in hand with the film's mythic dimension.  The people of the Valley of the Wind have a prophecy of salvation, and the film ends with death and resurrection.  For the most part, the film presents us with a world on a hopeless, deterministic trajectory.  Count how many times characters say "we have no choice."  The film follows this trajectory to its conclusion, only to reverse when everyone finally comes face-to-face with something that shakes them.

It happens twice.  First, there's the apocalyptic image of the thousands of glowing red eyes marking out the Ohm stampede.  It's an image powerful enough to break the Tolmekian soldiers' will.  Then, there's Nausicaä's miracle.  Some might see it as a cop-out but what it really is is a demonstration: it takes a kind of renewed mythology to overcome all the other interpersonal forces at play in this film.  Again you could compare it to Diary of a Country Priest, where the priest's openness is ultimately what lets him receive the divine.  Nausicaä is able to achieve a spiritual renewal because she's willing to see spirit in bugs and trees.