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[InC-terview] Geoffrey Wexler - Chief of International Division from Studio Ghibli

By InCinemas / 21 Mar 2014 (Friday)

Besides helming the international division of well-known Japanese animation film studio Studio Ghibli, Geoffrey Wexler (or also known as Jeff) is one of the Executive producers of the English-language version of the Academy Award-nominated film The Wind Rises.

InCinemas was privileged to chat with Wexler about The Wind Rises and Studio Ghibli.

(Find out more about The Wind Rises here!)

The Wind Rises is said to be legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s last feature-length film. Miyazaki created some of the world’s popular animation films such as Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, Oscar-winning animated feature Spirited Away, just to name a few.

In the English version of The Wind Rises which Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski lend their voices to, Wexler shared how these actors came to mind and the details that go into producing it.

“We have a lot of discussions about whether changing something is going to make it better for the film, or is it too far away from the it. To say that it’s exactly the same is impossible because Japanese language doesn’t translate exactly to the English language, and the Japanese culture concepts don’t exactly translates to the concepts.”

In terms of casting the actors, Wexler said it was an ‘emotional, subjective analysis’. “I personally look for actors who have a distinctive voice but may not stand out as ‘you know the actor just by the voice’”, he continued.

(Read our review of the film!)

The Wind Rises sparked a slight controversy with its war-themed subject that led to topics arising from the controversy than the film, even before its release in selected countries. Despite that, the film went on to make box-office hits in several countries worldwide. Wexler explained that the film’s subject is an ‘easy topic to create a controversy out of’, but people who watched the film ‘don’t talk about that aspect’. “They come out talking about the passion for making something so beautiful, the love story of the film.”

For the fans of Hayao Mizayaki’s works, Wexler hints to a possible documentary featurette on Studio Ghibli which was filmed last year during the development of The Wind Rises called ‘The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness’. “We have the Japanese documentary filmmaker and she was at the studio with the handheld camera all the time. Her film does talk about the history of the Studio, and kind of also revolves around the development of The Wind Rises.”

Whether that interesting documentary film will be released concurrently or with the DVD package, Wexler said they are ‘still looking at it’, though the blu-ray releases usually contain materials like background art works, interviews and storyboards.

Though The Wind Rises might be the swan song for Hayao Mizayaki, expect lots more to come from Studio Ghibli where Wexler and his are busy with packaging a film ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya', and another upcoming one, When Marnie Was There, slated to be release in Japan this summer.

The Wind Rises (PG) is now showing in theatres!

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[InC-terview] Geoffrey Wexler - Chief of International Division from Studio Ghibli