Miyazaki Madness, Part 8: "Princess Mononoke" and the challenge of seeing with eyes unclouded
One of the grandest animated epics ever mounted
On Thursdays, I’m publishing reviews of classic movies, including pieces that have never appeared online before taken from my book 200 Reviews, available now in Paperback or on Kindle (which you should really consider buying, because it’s an awesome collection!). In this series, we are examining the filmography of my all-time favorite movie director - and newly minted two-time Oscar winner with his win for The Boy and the Heron - Hayao Miyazaki! We will be looking at all of his theatrical feature films along with the movies he wrote but did not direct, for a total of 15 weeks of Miyazaki Madness! The series continues today with one of the biggest films ever made, in both stature and impact: 1997’s Princess Mononoke. Enjoy…
Princess Mononoke
1997, Dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Originally published August 23rd, 2012 for The Denver Post’s YourHub, Online and in Print
In Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, protagonist Ashitaka is sent forth from his village with a mission to “see with eyes unclouded.” He has been cursed by a spirit rotting of anger, and to heal himself, he will journey the land as a neutral third party, observing with clarity the problems of his world, attaining insight and, in the process, hopefully stumbling upon the cure to his own ailment.
“Seeing with eyes unclouded” is what Miyazaki does in all his films, but never so powerfully as in Mononoke, where he discusses the infinite complexities of a convoluted world without judgment. Here, he touches upon nearly every theme that has ever interested him – the futility of war, mankind’s relationship with nature, the frailties of the human condition, etc. – with an impossibly deft hand and a staggeringly vast scope.
Princess Mononoke is the true ‘epic’ of animation history, the most ambitious work ever realized through cartoon images. It is a long film, with a complex and multifaceted story; the action takes place on a vast visual landscape, and the emotions it tackles are even broader; the cast of characters is enormous, and nearly all are important; and Joe Hisaishi’s relentlessly gorgeous score is one of the most complex, moving, and sweeping in film history. Watching Mononoke is akin to taking a great journey. It is not an easy experience, nor is it always an uplifting one. But each difficulty leads to increasingly meaningful rewards, and by the end, one’s view of the world shall be considerably richer.
On an immediate level, Miyazaki discusses issues of hatred and violence in environmental terms, and displays a profound maturation of his own insight. The sins we commit against our earth, he contends, are never excusable, but they can be understood and overcome if we have the strength to examine our own desires, weaknesses, and the points at which they intersect.
Such ideas are explored through the conflict between a small mining town and the massive surrounding forest. The residents Ashitaka meets are good people, but they take too much from the forest, where local spirits grow restless. These creatures ask for nothing more than room to live, which is the same thing the humans that take from them desire. Neither party’s wishes are unreasonable, yet finding a suitable way to share this world seems impossible. The resulting pressure leads both sides to anger, then to destruction. Terrible acts are executed, and hatred grows stronger every day. Ashitaka, trying desperately to maintain clear eyes and an open heart, is caught in the middle, as is the viewer.
The film’s other central character is San, the ‘Princess Mononoke’ of the title. Do not confuse San’s role with that of the typical ‘Disney Princess.’ Miyazaki employs the terminology not to suggest royalty, but the concept of inheritance. Raised by wolves in the forest of the Gods, San is the Princess of nature itself, the inheritor and chosen protector of a much larger world. Ashitaka, a Prince in his homeland, is her counterpart for humanity. Together, they are the children who shall take on the sins of this broken world, a world that is constantly changing, a world where each generation must learn from the past and work tirelessly to make life a little better for those who come next. This is the challenge Ashitaka and San choose to confront, hand-in-hand, at the film’s conclusion. It is also, I believe, the central notion behind Miyazaki’s entire career.
NEXT WEEK: The movie that is first among equals in Miyazaki’s extraordinary filmography - the 2001 masterpiece, and my favorite film, Spirited Away…
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