That blurred distinction is a hallmark of Miyazaki, whose films (among them “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away”) are windows into the subconscious. In interviews collected in the book “Starting Point: 1979-1996,” Miyazaki referred to a universal “yearning for a lost world” he refused to call nostalgia, since even children experience it. But that heron (voiced by Masaki Suda) keeps appearing, luring him toward the tower, taunting him with forbidden knowledge. (Robert Pattinson voices the heron in an English-language version that features Christian Bale, Gemma Chan and many others.) Even by his standards, though, “The Boy and the Heron” is enigmatic, at least regarding plot.

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Persons: Miyazaki, ” Miyazaki, ”, we’ve, “, Mononoke ”, “ It’s, Masaki Suda, Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, Gemma Chan, isn’t, — Locations: Miyazaki’s, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Japan