Princess Mononoke (1997)

The Climax of Ghibli (Volume 1: Part 11)

Studio Ghibli had been belting out movies since the early 1980s. They delt with everything from epic fantasy to coming of age films. But, nothing would have prepared the world for 'Princess Mononoke'. Not only is this film the 2nd highest grossing film in Japan, it is also the film that finally gave Studio Ghibili notice in the United States.

'Princess Mononoke' shows the epic battle of man against nature and how the constant motion of human evolution has the ability to destroy the purity of nature. Though there are no physical elements of good against evil the true villans in this film are greed, power and anger. You see characters like Asuyaka, who comes from a race of humans that have strong bonds with nature. Lady Hiboshi who wants to move the human race forward with science and technology only to create the perfect human utopia. Then you have Princess Mononoke, a girl who was tossed by her parents to the wolf gods out of fear, but only to be raised as a daughter of nature and learn the magic of the ancient ways. These characters clash for the purpose of moving forward, but also for the chance to co-exist. I feel that is what makes this film so appealing because of the similariteis in life. The topics of polotics, science and religion always cause a stir in us eventhough there can be ways to have them all work united.

This was a diffenent film for Miyazaki, but you still manage to see the magical elements that make his signature work. It is a film rich in detail and emotion. You get lost in the vast landscapes and the relationships of the characters you sometimes forget you are watching an animated film. Though this movie may not be for everyone because of the PG-13 rating for the epic battles and language, there are still elements that bring out Miyazaki's true colors and this film is a marvel worthy to be seen.
June 24, 2008

A Wicked Masterpiece

As a huge fan of Miyazaki's work, this was far from disappointing but truly worthy of praise. It excites the mind and the imagination with the story and captures a truly fascinating world unlike any other I've ever encountered in fantasy. It is beautifully animated even if in only 2-D, it is fluid and fanciful all the way through. However, concerning Miyazaki's other pieces, this one is more graffic and includes some more vicious demon work than other so-called demons in other pieces. Creatures and people are slaughtered or wounded and although blood doesn't gush, some might squirm. I felt a tad of revulsion, but not at the story itself. It thrills. It inspires. It's worth watching again and worth every penny. The dubbing is well done and I love it all. June 19, 2008

Sound? Good grief--your EYES will pop out!

I owned this DVD for 8-10 months before i unwrapped and watched it--I didn'T like "Spirited Away" (you tell me why; I don't know). But I loved "Grave of the Fireflies" from the same studio, and "Whiper of the Heart," which I think Miyazaki had a hand in.
Miyazaki takes the complexities of a simple problem (must the need for mechanization and what we make of natual resourses ruin nature?) and weaves a story of the most glorious creatures one has ever seen, imagined or not had the imagination to imagine. And although there is a hero and a heroine, nobody else is all good or all bad. I loved all the characetrs, from the girls rescued from a brothel to the (GULP!) Night Walker. Move over, Lawrence Olivier in Henry V (sorry; I was just thinking of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen).

There is a problem wih my DVD player, and I couldn't get the original soundtrack. I had no problems with the excellent actors in the English version (I think the Japanese are second only to Bergman in dubbing), but having read the reviews, I will watch it in japanese tomorrow at my friend's house.

LATER: The ENGLISH (dubbed) version is much better---because, first, the actors are all adequate to the task, but second, and more important, there is only so much subtitle you can fit on the screen at one time, and the subtitles to the Japanese version tend to be minimalist. The Japanese language is spoken rather quickly, and while the English-speaking actors could keep up, the subtitle-writers could not (besides, they have to take the reading speed of the audience into consideration as well).. (There have been movies where I have learned things from the subtitles that I hadn't even known were in the movies---this is NOT one of them!)You will learn a lot more of what's going on in the speech and thought of the characters--unless you know Japanese--if you watch the English language version. May 21, 2008

amazing

this movie is a classic. the animation is spectacular and the story very well done. I happen to be somewhat into japanese culture as of present, but before i was so into it, and people who i know now who are not into it, sometimes japanese media goes over their heads. the cultures are kind of different and place importance on different things and when a person used to seeing one kind of story or moral repeated over and over in different ways sees something else... well they may not immediately appreciate it (an example of this would be how at the end he doesn't end up with the girl. this happens in almost every western movie because we are very focused on the 'happy ending' fairytale, validating the storyline with the 'kiss at the end', but that doesn't happen in all cultures). however, i found princess mononoke to somewhat transcend this confusion, because the story is so relatable and well told. i found it to be so when i first watched it, which would be late elementary school, and feel this way even more now.

the story can be translated in many ways, but the general message i got out of it was the modern attempting to erase tradition. the people of iron town worked hard to destroy the forest because by doing so they could earn a living in the new world making iron. the only way they could do this however was to cut down the forests, which meant that they would have to kill the gods from the old world, who were already dying out. the thing is that the lady osono (or whatever) is painted in something of a bad light as she is cutting down the forest and killing the gods, but she is an amazingly strong humanist and a proactive woman in a time and place where women weren't liable to have that status (the status might help to paint her as a 'bad guy' however, because even though we are making progressions, many people are still very sexist... i would bet you that if not you yourself, someone you know thinks that women are by nature evil or devious... in 2008). So when looking at it in this light osono is opting for humanity. she takes in those lepers, she saves brothel workers from whatever fate they would face in brothels, etc. and yet she's the bad guy. interesting to note at any rate.

ashitaka is a great protagonist. a pacifist to the end. he goes on his journey to find something to remove his curse, not for selfish reasons i don't think, but to right the wrong. he's a pretty selfless person. at the beginning of the movie, the reason he got the curse was because his sister was in the way of the boar, so he had to shoot it, but before that he was trying to talk to it. this is basically how he acts throughout the movie. he tries to get things done without violence, but if it comes to it, he will resort to violence to protect himself or those he cares about.

didn't really notice the environmental message when i first saw it. i was more focused on cultural loss. but recently, with the environmental bludgeon the media has been playing around with, i noticed just how 'for nature' this movie was. traditionalism would of course take the stance against industry which would be a way to save the forest, so it makes sense, but i guess i just went into it too symbolically. it does have a pleasant environmental message however, better than a lot of other animated environmental movies.

so, to sum up, this is a great movie. May 5, 2008

My take on things.

This movie has been my favorite since I was about ten. It is very good, and I loved it since me and my brother watched it for the first time. I would get it at the library again, and again, well i got bored getting it there, so i decided to buy it, and im so glad that I did. April 21, 2008

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