Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke

Starring Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

The Story:
In Muromachi Japan, a demon boar attempts to attack the town but is killed by Ashitaka (Billy Crudup), the last Emishi prince.  In the battle he is touched by the demon and given a scar that will eventually kill him, and he is sent by a wise woman to the west in hopes of finding a cure.

He ends up in Iron Town, run by Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), a powerful leader who uses prostitutes and lepers to craft weapons and create iron at the expense of the forest population.  Ashitaka also finds San (Claire Danes), a girl who was raised by the wolves led by Moro (Gillian Anderson), and who hates humans due to their deforestation.  Ashitaka finds himself caught in a war between humans, animals, and the forest spirits who cannot find a way to coexist, and who has lost all means of communication with one another.  Only he can find a way to bring them all together and bring unity and peace to the world, despite his growing disease that slowly kills him.

The Synopsis:
Japanese animation is a thing of beauty, and something I never appreciated until recently.  From Mamoru Hosoda's epic tales ("Boy and the Beast," "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," "Summer Wars," "Wolf Children") to Hayao Miyazaki ("Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away"), Japanese animation tells brilliant stories with vivid animations and complex characters.  "Princess Mononoke" tells a powerful story that blends what is good and bad, and doesn't draw any clear-cut lines as to which is right.

The film takes place at the beginning of the Iron Age (as proven by the main city being named Iron Town, with the people harvesting iron), and it serves as a way humans need to survive.  As the times change, they have to adapt in order to survive, and here it's at the expense of the dense, living forest around them.  The animals in the forest - most prominently the wolf clan - also need to survive, as do the forest spirits (here shown in awe-inspiring visual magic).  At one point in time everyone learned to exist in peace and harmony, but no longer.  Are humans to blame?  Possibly, but they're only doing what they need to survive.  Is Lady Eboshi a villain for forcing prostitutes and lepers to work?  Maybe, but the prostitutes are thankful for her protection, and the lepers feel important because she has them craft their weapons.  So is Ebochi the main villain?  Is San - who is the Mononoke ("angry or vengeful spirit") - the villain for attacking the village?  Is there any real villain at all?  There's no clear answer, as everyone has motives that border on the villainous, but are still met with logical deductions and a desire to just survive in a new world.

While the story allows us to open our minds, it also expands it to showcase some truly marvelous animations that you could never find in a live-action film, or any of the several animated films created just for children.  This is no children's tale, as during the heat of battle we see men losing their arms and - literally - their heads.  It's such a violent contrast to an otherwise otherworldly beauty that Miyazaki develops (the film involves a staggering 144,000 animation cells, and included over 550 different colors) that it makes the film all the more jarring and powerful, but doesn't deter from the overall essence the film delivers.  It's stunningly beautiful, artfully made, and very impressive considering it was released in the late 90s when animation was just beginning to hit its peak.  It truly is a film before its time, and yet timeless.

The Summary:
"Princess Mononoke" delivers a powerful story told with vivid imagery and lavish animations that not just opens your mind but expands it as well.

The Score: A+