Greatest animated film ever made

Rating: 10/10 (13 October 2006)

I bought this film having watched Spirited Away and I would have been happy if I saw a mere shadow of that films story, characters and imagination. I was so surprised at how brilliant it was i had to watch it again straight away. Though on first impressions a children's movie its characters have a depth that transcend the works of comparable Disney films and even on occasion is shockingly violent with no distaste. What really makes this film beautiful though is the intricate story interweaving with the stories of the war between the people of Iron Townand the animals, the struggle to comprehend life and death and the impossible romance of Ashitaka and San. The fact that both the humans and the great beasts are shown to be both compassionate and ruthless shows a tragedy that human kindness and natural beauty may not coincide together and this is what gives the film its melancholic tone especially among its breathtakingly drawn action sequences and truly epic ending.