Princess Mononoke (1997)
Review by Chris Meadows Review Rating: 10 out of 10
Written & Directed by Hayao Miyazaki Adapted by Neil Gaiman
Starring Billy Crudup, Claire Dane, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Gillian Anderson (English version)
Running time: 213 minutes MPAA: PG-13
Hayao Miyazaki's past films (_Laputa: Castle in the Sky_, _My Neighbor Totoro_, _Kiki's Delivery Service_, and so on) have garnered much the same reputation among Japanese viewers that Disney films have garnered over here: Masterfully-done family-friendly kiddie fare that almost everybody will enjoy. However, Miyazaki's latest offering, _Princess Mononoke_ (_Mononoke Hime_ in the original Japanese) is something of a departure from his past standards, and may surprise even Miyazaki fans.
As a darker film than Miyazaki's prior movies (with the possible exception of _Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind_), Mononoke earns its PG-13 rating. If it had been made as a live-action film, it would almost certainly have gotten an R. Set hundreds of years ago in the Muromachi period of Japan, the movie includes samurai violence, blood (literally _gallons_ of blood in one scene), and some minor sexual themes (mostly flirtation and references to characters having formerly been brothel girls). Thus, it falls squarely into that uniquely American no-man's-land of mass-market animated films _not_ meant for children...which probably explains its near-total lack of studio publicity. Mirimax must have been uncertain how to promote a film like this, so deeply-seated is the American "animation = kidvid" prejudice. Even though it was a chartbusting smash hit in Japan, earning a place in the 2000 _Guinness Book of World Records_ (page 132) and grossing $156.6 million in Japan alone, it has languished in near-total obscurity in the United States despite receiving almost nothing but rave reviews. Princess Mononoke is a spectacular film, a feast for the senses and the mind, and it is a shame it has not been better promoted.
[The remainder of this review contains some minor spoilers for the film and its ending.]
Save for its ending, _Princess Mononoke_ is very much a tragedy (in the literary sense). It is a film in which there are no real villains, save perhaps the Emperor, who is barely even mentioned but whose desire to live forever is an important plot motivator. There are only human beings, gods, and demons, all of whom have imperfections that cause them to clash in numerous skirmishes and, eventually, a final battle that destroys and costs a great deal.
And yet, most characters also have redeeming or even heroic qualities as well. The Lady Eboshi (voiced by Minnie Driver in the English version), whose Irontown is denuding the forest and killing off its gods, is in some respects downright humanitarian, taking in and personally bandaging lepers, rescuing brothel girls from their contracts, and protecting her people from both forest gods and human warlords.
Perhaps the only truly blameless character is Ashitaka (Billy Crudup), who, cursed by the blood of a forest demon he killed to protect his village, has now come west to unravel the causes behind its demonization, and "to see with eyes unclouded by hate." And so he does, moving between camps of human and forest creature with near-impunity, friendly to all sides but partial to none, causing everyone who meets him to wonder, "Just whose side is he on, anyway?" The answer is all of them...and none of them. Ashitaka wants humans and forest denizens to live together in harmony...which may not be possible, even after the movie's end.
The film begins when Prince Ashitaka kills the boar demon and is banished from his village forever. He rides west, encountering samurai and an enigmatic monk, Jigo (Billy Bob Thornton). As he continues his journey, he comes across and saves the lives of two men who were thrown over a cliff during an attack on Lady Eboshi's caravan by the wolf-goddess Mara (Gillian Anderson). Along the way, he meets San (Claire Dane), a girl whose parents abandoned her in fear after Mara caught them defiling the forest, and who Mara raised as one of her own. (San is also the Princess Mononoke, though this is only mentioned once in the entire film--if you blink at the wrong moment, as have some reviewers, you might miss it. "Mononoke" literally means "the spirits of things;" hence the Princess Mononoke is the girl who communes with the woodland spirits.)
After he returns the men he saved to Irontown, Ashitaka learns of Eboshi's motives. He soon has the chance to learn of San's and Mara's, and that of the clan of giant boars from which came the demon that attacked Ashitaka's village. As the plot thickens, the danger mounts, and human and creature armies clash in bloody battles, time begins to run out for the forest creatures and Irontown alike...and Ashitaka may be the only one who can bring anything positive out of the whole mess.
_Princess Mononoke_ is a morality play, showing the consequences of humanity's selfishness and disregard for the environment, and the aftermath of war in often gory detail. However, it does not overdo its moralizing--it shows by example, not by exposition. The ending is not the unrealistically saccharine "...and everybody lived happily ever after" often found in fairy-tales but rather a more realistic reconciliation and realization of differences, which may bode ill for the future. (In fact, since Japan today is more or less one huge urban area, it's probably safe to say that humanity did end up triumphing over the wild sooner or later.) The film remains consistently adult in its story and outlook.
Though _Mononoke_ is an excellent film, there are nonetheless some minor flaws. Storywise, it is never adequately explained (though this could be the dub's fault) why Ashitaka has to leave his tribe forever for being cursed, unable to return even if the curse is lifted. Also, there is one animal clan, the apes, whose appearances only serve to slow the flow of the plot and insert some mostly-unnecessary exposition. It is also never explained why San is a Princess, how Lady Eboshi knows that she is a Princess, or why Lady Eboshi wants her to "become human again." Can it be that she is the girl's biological mother? Odd that she never reveals it if so...
As far as the script is concerned, Neil Gaiman's adaptation is remarkably good at matching lines to animated mouth movements, but some lines do come off a bit corny. The acting in general is very good; even my friend who claimed never to have seen a good dub was impressed. Although it's sometimes a bit hard to countenance a Japanese Lady with an Irish accent or a spy-cum-monk with the voice of a backwoods hick, I suspect that the original Japanese voices' accents probably carried similar connotations of exotic nobility or hickness to Japanese-speakers.
The animation is, as always for cinematic Studio Ghibli (Miyazaki's animation studio) works, first-rate. This is the first Miyazaki film to mark the use of extensive computer effects; however, most of these are in the area of "digital ink and paint" programs--the equivalent of using a drawing pad and a computer program to make a sketch, rather than a pen and a cel--rather than the CGI (computer-generated images) effects that are mostly synonymous with "computer animation" these days. There are a few noticeable CGI effects; however, they mostly do not distract from the overall look and feel of the film.
And that overall look and feel is sumptuous, and often like a watercolor painting in motion. The film is full of the lush greens of the plains and forests, and is breathtaking to watch in its full glory on a big screen. Stylistically, _Mononoke_ is vintage Miyazaki, meaning that his character designs have varied little since his earliest film. San looks very similar to past Miyazaki heroines, such as Kiki, Nausicaa, Sheeta (from _Laputa_), and Clara (from _Castle of Cagliostro_.
The score is also vintage Miyazaki--the composer, Joe Hisaishi, has worked with Miyazaki on almost all his films since _Nausicaa_. However, this time Hisaishi has had access to a full-fledged symphony orchestra, whereas scores to prior Miyazaki films were done mostly with synthesizers. The score is rich and deeply stirring, with recurring themes for several of the characters. From the opening strains of the very first piece of music, it establishes the atmosphere of the film, and does it extraordinarily well. This is a soundtrack to go out and buy...as I did, as soon as I saw the film. Given this spectacular showing, it will be very interesting to see what Hisaishi does with the score to _Laputa_, which he was commissioned to revise and rerecord for its upcoming release to video or theaters (Mirimax is still trying to decide which) under the title _Castle in the Sky_.
_Princess Mononoke_ is easily one of the best animated movies of the
year (either 1997, when it was originally made, or 1999, which saw its
release upon American shores), and very likely one of the best movies
of _any_ kind. At the time of the writing of this review, it is still
playing in many major metropolitan areas; an updated listing of which
theaters can be found at
My rating: 10 out of 10.
[This review is copyright 2000 by Christopher E. Meadows. Permission
granted for Usenet distribution and associated archival, including the
Internet Movie Database, but other distribution rights reserved to the
author.]
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