released 07 feb 05 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* At the beginning of Hayao Miyazaki's animated movie PRINCESS MONONOKE, we meet Ashitaka, prince of a remote village in ancient Japan. When the village is attacked by a demonic beast, Ashitaka fights and kills it, only to be infected by a supernatural blight that he knows will eventually kill him. He rides an antelope to the outer world to find a cure.
After some adventures, he ends up at a fortified village built in the forest around an iron foundry, run by the noble Lady Eboshi. She is trying to carve a new world for herself and her people out of the forest; but the forest and its spirits -- "kami" -- resist, resulting in a war. Ashitaka also meets Mononoke, a girl raised by wolves who fights to protect the forest.
The simplest thing that can be said about PRINCESS MONONOKE is that it is impressive in every sense of the word. It is beautifully produced with brilliant animation and features a superb script, which provides an environmental message without being hamfisted and preachy about it. It is meticulous in detail -- I liked the umbrellas the warriors carried to allow them to fire their matchlock guns in the rain -- and, in the end, carries a sense of religious transcendence from its Shinto-infused story.
The only thing I can warn about is that this is not a good movie for kids, not merely because of the occasional decapitations and dismemberments -- Miyazaki is talking about a war and he spares little of its violence -- but because of its intensity. Beyond that, this is another Miyazaki movie I can recommend with no reservations.