The complete collection of Hayao Miyazaki’s favourite movies
When discussing the most important filmmakers of modern cinema, we often look towards the likes of Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Greta Gerwig and Bong Joon-Ho, whose ambitious cinematic scope has shaped how we look at the industry today. Still, too rarely do we consider the realm of animation, where such innovators as Nora Twomey, John Lasseter and Hayao Miyazaki have created an entirely new world where every colour and every shape can be carefully curated.
Arguably, however, Hollywood animation would not be as imaginative and diverse as it is today without the influence of Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, who has since written and directed some of their very best movies. From his Ghibli debut of Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro in 1979 all the way to his 2023 movie How Do You Live, Miyazaki has never rested on the prestige of his filmography, constantly innovating upon every new release.
Like every great filmmaker, however, his creativity wasn’t conjured from the ether, having been inspired by countless films from across the globe that encompass different styles and philosophies. As well as several Japanese movies being included on his list of all-time favourites, Miyazaki’s other picks include the likes of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, the Disney animation The Little Mermaid and the John Ford movie My Darling Clementine.
Perhaps his most revealing inclusion is four movies from the iconic Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. As well as Kurosawa’s celebrated action dramas Ran and Seven Samurai, Miyazaki also includes the lesser-known 1993 film Madadayo, which follows a retired professor living in the aftermath of war-torn Tokyo, as well as 1952’s Ikiru, which was recently remade in the form of Oliver Hermanus’ surprisingly great film, Living.
Elsewhere, Miyazaki has also included a number of European classics, picking out such films as Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1983 drama Nostalghia, Andrzej Wajda’s 1958 film Ashes and Diamonds and Grigory Chukhray’s 1959 movie Ballad of a Soldier.
Take a look at Hayao Miyazaki’s full list of favourite movies below, where he mentions some influential classics and a good number of personal picks.
Hayao Miyazaki’s favourite movies:
- Animal Farm (Joy Batchelor and John Halas, 1954)
- Ashes and Diamonds (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)
- Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987)
- Ballad of a Soldier (Grigory Chukhray, 1959)
- Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
- Blood Splattered At Takadanobaba (Daisuke Itô, 1928)
- Chikemuri Takanobaba (Daisuke Itô, 1928)
- The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird (Paul Grimault, 1952)
- Father And Daughter (Michaël Dudok de Wit, 2000)
- Flame and Women (Yoshishige Yoshida, 1967)
- Hedgehog in the Fog (Yuri Norstein, 1975)
- How Green Was My Valley (John Ford, 1941)
- Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
- Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
- The King and the Mockingbird (Paul Grimault, 1980)
- The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1989)
- Madadayo (Akira Kurosawa, 1993)
- Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
- My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946)
- Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1983)
- The Old Mill (Wilfred Jackson, 1937)
- Peter Pan (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske, 1953)
- Priest of Darkness (Sadao Yamanaka, 1936)
- Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
- Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
- The Snow Queen (Lev Atamanov, 1957)
- The Spirit of the Beehive (Víctor Erice, 1973)
- Takadanobaba Duel (Masahiro Makino, Hiroshi Inagaki, 1937)
- Tale of Tales (Yuri Norstein, 1979)
- The White Snake Enchantress (Taiji Yabushita, 1958)
