Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-Hime) (1997)

Runtime: 134 minutes

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Starring: A bunch of Japanese voice actors

From: Studio Ghibli

I saw this movie last night in a theatre and I am glad I got to see this for the first time in such a fashion. The movie is a classic, and not just of animated movies, but of all movies. I wax poetic about it below: 

Last month I had the opportunity to see Spirited Away on the big screen. I had the controversial opinion that it was not a movie I warmed up to. I was hoping things would be different when I watched this last night on the big screen, on the day that happened to be Miyazaki's 76th birthday. Well, people can put away their pitchforks and torches, as this is an excellent movie.

I thankfully went into this not knowing anything about the plot. I'll try to be vague here for those not familiar with this movie. We have a young hero (Ashitaka) who is cursed after a battle with a demon. He needs to go West to try and find a cure. From there he runs into a bunch of memorable and awesome characters, both human and otherwise. The story is mature and the characters aren't black and white; all are layered and you can understand all their viewpoints, whether or not you agree with them. In addition, what you may think early on, your opinion could flip-flop.

It's a story set in feudal Japan so you get such things as samurai, beautiful forests... and some graphic things that you expect to see in other samurai movies. This is definitely more violent than a typical Studio Ghibli picture. But alongside the typical feudal Japan stuff is various mystical creatures. Various themes are present (such as being anti-war and pro-environment) but they aren't hammered home in an obnoxious overbearing manner.

This is a magnificent movie that is not just a great animated picture; it's a great picture period. I understand the dubbed version has its issues with the voice cast but at least I got to see it subbed and that version can easily be watched. Watching this theatrically with the spectacular images in your face and the incredible score from Joe Hisaishi made this a great experience. This is something that I should watch multiple times in order to fully appreciate all its subtleties, but I say everyone should see this at least once.