Perhaps planet Earth is better off without humankind laying waste to it. That is what Hayao Miyazaki would have us believe in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Released in 1984 and recognised as Miyazaki’s sophomore directorial, Nausicaä not only laid the foundation for the recurring themes of environmentalism and war in his films, it also led to the formation of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio.

From the very first moment, we are whisked into a dusty dystopia, as a horse-ostrich hybrid mounted by a figure wearing a gas mask approaches. The landscape is swarming with fuzzy white spores and brims with bulbous trees and unusual blooms expelling poisonous pink vapours. We have entered a world that has witnessed its doom.

The film is set 1,000 years after the collapse of society, following the ‘Seven Days of Fire’, a war that wiped out nearly all civilisation and irreparably damaged the natural environment. The planet then retaliated by unleashing The Sea of Decay, an ever-expanding toxic jungle harbouring mutant insects. This epic narrative of humans battling nature is conveyed through a series of cave-style illustrations that follow the opening scene.

Princess Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, our flame-haired protagonist and the original Ghibli girl, soars into view on her sleek motorised glider, making her way into the toxic jungle with ease and familiarity. She is no stranger to this poisonous paradise, as she collects spore samples and desecrates insect exoskeletons. Nausicaä, like her Greek namesake, exhibits unbridled compassion and kindness for the earth and its inhabitants, choosing to peacefully lure an Ohmu (a mutant armoured pill bug) back to its habitat, rather than engaging in violence against it when faced with the possibility of an attack.

Nausicaä’s hometown, the Valley of the Wind with its lush green hills studded with windmills, is protected from the deadly spores and toxic fumes due to its proximity to the ocean, which supplies fresh breeze for its inhabitants. Nausicaä is beloved and revered for her bravery, a true people’s princess. All seems well until the valley is threatened when an airship suddenly crashes at dawn, heralding an attack by an opposing territory’s sizeable fleet. In her only violent moment in the film, Nausicaä abandons her pacifism as she tears down several Tolmekian soldiers upon witnessing her father being slaughtered before she is restrained and captured.

Lady Kushana, the Tolmekian queen, orders that the last remaining Giant Warrior be resurrected from its embryo to aid in her efforts to push back against The Sea of Decay (the Giant Warriors were the original bioengineered weapons of mass destruction that submerged the Earth into its current state of chaos). Lady Kushana, with her deep-seated hatred for the Ohmu and thirst for revenge, does not register the fallacy in her own plans. She hopes to counter ruin with more ruin.

Nausicaä’s philosophy is different. For years, she has tinkered away in her underground botanic sanctuary, experimenting with spores and samples obtained from her extensive forays into the toxic jungle, and in the process discovered that plants from the toxic jungle thrive in her kingdom without retaining their poisonous characteristics because the water and soil she uses come from deep within the earth and are therefore uncorrupted. She understands that “the pollution lies in the earth itself,” and it is the humans who “made such a terrible mess of the world.” She also seeks to understand the Ohmu and in her encounters with them, aims to quell rather than provoke.

While rescuing a pilot who had suffered a crash, Nausicaä is transported to a sprawling cavern underneath the toxic jungle and discovers that the ‘toxic’ ecosystem has been secretly purifying and repairing the world while keeping humans at bay.

In Nausicaä’s world and ours, humans are notorious for involving nature in their worldly battles to the extent that nature bears the scars of mankind’s petty squabbles. The people of her kingdom set a forest ablaze to protect themselves when the threat of spores arises, while the people of the neighbouring Pejite sacrifice their land and kinfolk, in an effort to put an end to the Ohmu.

Nausicaä, however, is spurred by her curiosity to strike a balance that appeals to both. In her view, this strict demarcation of society that separates humans from the natural world is the root of this dissonance. It is her unbending resolve that culminates in her almost sacrificing herself for the preservation of both humankind and nature. However, nature, being benevolent rather than malefic, accepts her sacrifice and expresses gratitude by resuscitating her.

It is also interesting to note that the planet’s self-preservation process, meant to purify and restore, is perceived as destruction because it limits human exploration and conquest. Perhaps it presents a chance for humans to atone for instigating an ecocide, a punishment meted out by nature itself, forcing them to find new ways to sustain themselves. When humans rule, the Earth undoubtedly suffers, but when nature assumes control, the environment, despite being poisonous to humans, still allows human life to survive.

The post-apocalyptic world of this film almost serves as a prophecy of what is to come if we continue to passively await our planet’s destruction. In our world, leaders and prominent organisations largely seem to be concerned with signing pledges, adjusting the climate clock and even questioning the probability of complete ruin instead of doing what needs to be done to prevent the horrors that will follow.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is currently streaming on Netflix.