Omnium-gatherum
Matt Hanson’s Brain Archive
August 30, 2005
Princess Mononoke
Hayao Miyazaki makes films you would never see coming out of the west. The plots strike as unusual or weird, but they are utterly fantastic. I very much enjoyed his earlier films, Castle in the Sky, and Spririted Away. With their unique plots and characters these animated features introduced a type of cinema I had not delved much into before - that of Japanese animation.
Princess Mononoke captivated me in a similar way. From the beginning you are immediately empathetic with the plight of Ashitaka and his village that was attacked by a demon-boar from a far away forest. Ashitaka voyages to the forest and the adjacent mining town that has declared war on the forest, the creatures inside, and the forest spirit. Mononoke is a human that lives in the forest, raised by wolves. The people of the mining town are hard working folk who want to progress foward and mine parts of the forest. The forest creatures resent the encroachment of humans into the forest. In their actions the humans unwittingly create evil revenge filled demon creates when they fight the boars and wolves of the forest. Ashitaka strives for peace between the two factions.
What makes Princess Mononoke so compelling is that (in our western manner) we like to take sides and the film takes you back and forth between both sides until you don’t know who is good and who is evil. While this seems like a straight forward concept it is virtually unknown in western film. When there are two opposing sides there is always one side that is portrayed as ‘good’ in the film, for the viewer to root for.
In the war between the Iron-town and the forest there is no victor, only an on-going desire for revenge. Such is the reality of war.
This was a great movie. The character reminded me of a female version of Kelgryn. It’s my favorite Studio Ghibli movie to date. Also check out Nausicca, as well as Howl’s Moving Castle, if you get a chance. One is old, one is new.
I find it extremely interesting to see that there are so many westerners, like myself and apparently you, noticing the huge differences in storytelling and film making in the east as compared to our mainstream. I took a break from anime for a few years for some unknown reason and have just recently rediscovered my love for it.
Anyway, enjoy your anime and hope to see some more mention of a few of the others that you’ve viewed recently.