REVIEW: Princess Mononoke

Only recently have I begun getting into the works of Hayao Miyazaki; I've known about his films for what feels like all my life, seeing Totoro dolls in Disney World and remembering commercials for Spirited Away on Toonami. Even though I hadn't seen a single one of his movies until relatively recently, these films were omnipresent in my view of pop culture; for as long as I can remember, I've known about the likes of Howl's Moving Castle and Kiki's Delivery Service. I've always been fairly familiar with anime in general, but it was always evident that the works of Studio Ghibli were something more. Something bigger and better, beyond the scope of the stuff I would watch on Cartoon Network or Kids WB as a child. Whenever anyone talks about the best Ghibli films, Princess Mononoke is a name that invariably comes up every single time. Having finally seen it, I can completely understand why.

The plot involves young Prince Ashitaka (voiced in the English dub by Billy Crudup); after saving his village from a rampaging demon, his arm becomes infected with a curse; while it greatly improves his strength and fighting ability, it will also eventually kill him. Exiled from his village, he sets out on a journey to find the cause of the corruption in hopes of stopping it and saving himself from a horrible fate. In his travels, he comes across Irontown, a formidable stronghold operated by Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), a powerful and self-assured leader who finds herself and her people constantly at odds with the inhabitants of a nearby forest. Their continual clearing of trees and mining operations have disrupted the balance of nature, causing conflicts with the forest gods who reside within. San (Claire Danes), a young woman who lives amongst the wolves within the forest, continually disrupts Eboshi's plans, attempting to assassinate her at every given opportunity. As this conflict between nature and human industry reaches a head, the duty falls to Ashitaka to restore balance. If it isn't evident by now, I watched the English dub released by Miramax. Like one would expect from Ghibli, it's an excellent dub, retaining nearly everything from the original Japanese version, save for some cultural terms or references here and there that add nothing and would be lost on a western audience, had they remained.

Everyone here does an excellent job, particularly Gillian Anderson as Moro, a forest god in the form of a giant, white wolf. There's just something in her voice that sounds so completely ancient and powerful; as she growls out her lines, you get the impression that this is a being who demands and deserves respect from all. Minnie Driver is also quite good as Lady Eboshi, lending the character a real air of authority. No matter what happens, she sounds in control and confident, which perfectly compliments both the character's position in life as well as her personality. The only addition to the voice cast that I'm not totally sold on is Billy Bob Thornton as the shrewd monk, Jiko-Bo. He nails the character's down-to-earth nature, but the tiny smidge of southern drawl that remains clashes both with the Muromachi-era aesthetic as well as the rest of the voice cast. He does a good job, but he sticks out like a sore thumb.

As good as the voice cast here is, it's by no means the main selling point of this movie. The animation is utterly stunning, imbuing everything with a feeling of organic life. The forest is so verdant and earthy, you can almost smell the moss growing on the trees; this is a movie where every frame is a masterpiece. The fight choreography and cinematography are more impressive than most live-action films I've seen; even though this is animation, the hits and movement have weight and gravitas to them. It all flows in a way that only animation can, but at no point does it look like a simple, silly cartoon. In the most basic terms, this is a movie about nature. Therefore, it is important that it feels natural; the forest feels like a real place, teeming with all forms of life and energy while Irontown has a much colder, inorganic feeling about it. It uses light and color to draw a very distinct line between the world of man and the world of nature; and it's this facet, the relationship between these two worlds, that I feel is the film's greatest strength.

As I mentioned, the main conflict in this film arises between the natural and human world's inability to live in harmony. This film shines in that there is no black or white morality to be found here; even the characters that stray closest to becoming villains have some manner of redeeming quality about them. Eboshi is literally waging war on nature, attempting to kill the Great Forest Spirit in order to suit her business interests. However, she also provides lives for women rescued from brothels and lepers who have nowhere else to turn. Her actions aren't motivated by a cartoonish sense of greed and entitlement, but rather by a desire to provide a good life for her people. She sees the forest as an adversary, so she does all she can to get it out of the way in the name of her community. While Moro fights for the survival of the forest, she and her fellow forest gods show little regard for human life. Again, they act not out of malice, but in defense for those they swore to protect. There are no objective good guys or bad guys here, just two sides that cannot see how intertwined they truly are. San and Ashitaka are the bridge between these two worlds; humans who are tied to nature at their core. So often, films that claim that humanity is harmful to nature fail to point out that humanity is nature. We aren't a hostile alien race that invaded a beautiful planet full of greenery, but rather one of countless species of animals that depends on nature to survive. This is a film that shows both sides of nature and civilization; while nature is pure and innocent, it is also harsh and uncaring. Humanity may be greedy and destructive at times, but we also possess empathy and reason. Both sides have something to contribute in tandem with each other because, at the root of all things, they are the same. By the end of the film, the "winner" isn't the humans or the forest, but rather life as a whole. It's a mature look at environmental issues that films of this type could really learn from.

Princess Mononoke is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. Packed to the brim with both style and substance, it is undoubtedly one of those films that everyone needs to see at least once in their lifetime. If you're uninitiated to the works of Miyazaki as I once was, Princess Mononoke is a stellar place to start your journey.