PRINCESS MONONOKE - Hayao Miyazaki
(I watched the English language version, dialog written by Neil Gaiman. Miyazaki and Gaiman were nominated for the Nebula award for their script.)
This is another great adventure epic from veteran animator Hayao Miyazaki and his team at Studio Ghibli. The story is trademark Miyazaki, the coexistence of nature and mankind and the various conflicts that arise therein. Do not however mistake this for some pedantic ecological lecture-drama; it’s a sprawling but riveting yarn with gods, demons, guns, clan wars, ghosts and curses.
Prince Ashitaka’s hand gets cursed when he kills a boar god mutated into a demon by hatred. He goes on a quest to cure his hand and lands into the midst of a raging conflict: On one hand the various animal clans that claim the forest for their own, including the ferocious wolf clan which has a wild-reared human in the midst – San or princess Mononoke. On the other, the humans of Iron-town led by lady Eboshi who with their powder-rifles are bent on expanding even if it means destroying the forests. Lady Eboshi strikes a deal with another warlord Lord Asano to get him the head of the spirit of the forest which Asano believes will grant him immortality. It is up to Ashitaka and Mononoke to stop her from this disastrous deed as well as resolve the conflict between the forest clans and the denizens of Iron-town.
The most striking aspect of the narrative is that Miyazaki presents all the factions in a believable light, whatever they do being linked to their ultimate survival. Eboshi may be plotting to destroy the animal clans but she does it to ensure her people’s prosperity; her only fault is that she is blind to the greater consequences of her action. The animal clans are not perfect either, falling into hate and prejudice all too easily. The film respects their inevitable differences and does not end on an entirely all’s well note, though a hope-laden one.
The visual canvas is huge and painted on with masterly strokes. The depiction of the battles between the clans or the attack of demons, although never in the gratuitously violent vein of many anime, does not flinch away from putting across the inevitable destruction and horror of war and plunder. The quieter moments of the film are also filled with touches of lushness, playful invention and subtle nuance. The most striking visual element IMO is the depiction of the spirit of the forest when he changes into the gigantic translucent form of the Night-Stalker…it is a moment of utter beauty and, like the film overall, the triumph of an amazingly accomplished imagination. Hail maestro Miyazaki.
(I watched the English language version, dialog written by Neil Gaiman. Miyazaki and Gaiman were nominated for the Nebula award for their script.)
This is another great adventure epic from veteran animator Hayao Miyazaki and his team at Studio Ghibli. The story is trademark Miyazaki, the coexistence of nature and mankind and the various conflicts that arise therein. Do not however mistake this for some pedantic ecological lecture-drama; it’s a sprawling but riveting yarn with gods, demons, guns, clan wars, ghosts and curses.
Prince Ashitaka’s hand gets cursed when he kills a boar god mutated into a demon by hatred. He goes on a quest to cure his hand and lands into the midst of a raging conflict: On one hand the various animal clans that claim the forest for their own, including the ferocious wolf clan which has a wild-reared human in the midst – San or princess Mononoke. On the other, the humans of Iron-town led by lady Eboshi who with their powder-rifles are bent on expanding even if it means destroying the forests. Lady Eboshi strikes a deal with another warlord Lord Asano to get him the head of the spirit of the forest which Asano believes will grant him immortality. It is up to Ashitaka and Mononoke to stop her from this disastrous deed as well as resolve the conflict between the forest clans and the denizens of Iron-town.
The most striking aspect of the narrative is that Miyazaki presents all the factions in a believable light, whatever they do being linked to their ultimate survival. Eboshi may be plotting to destroy the animal clans but she does it to ensure her people’s prosperity; her only fault is that she is blind to the greater consequences of her action. The animal clans are not perfect either, falling into hate and prejudice all too easily. The film respects their inevitable differences and does not end on an entirely all’s well note, though a hope-laden one.
The visual canvas is huge and painted on with masterly strokes. The depiction of the battles between the clans or the attack of demons, although never in the gratuitously violent vein of many anime, does not flinch away from putting across the inevitable destruction and horror of war and plunder. The quieter moments of the film are also filled with touches of lushness, playful invention and subtle nuance. The most striking visual element IMO is the depiction of the spirit of the forest when he changes into the gigantic translucent form of the Night-Stalker…it is a moment of utter beauty and, like the film overall, the triumph of an amazingly accomplished imagination. Hail maestro Miyazaki.
