The greatest animated film of all time.

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2007)

This film would be inside the top 10 films of all time were people in the west only more aware of it. In England we grow up on an unappealing diet of Disney tripe, but we don't realise it is so shoddy because it's all we have. This is because we don't have a strong animation industry of our own really, with the possible exception of Aardman Animations, and we are gripped by America's commercial stranglehold. The lower classes in this country love America and anything it produces, because they are ignorant, pure and simple. The sad fact is that the average person in the street has not heard of Studio Ghibli or Miyazaki. Consequently they think that Disney films are the acme of animation, and show their children Disney films and take them on holidays to Disneyland. It was such a revelation for me to see my first Studio Ghibli film (Spirited Away) and when I watched more of Miyazaki's masterpieces, most notably Mononoke-Hime, I realised what animation can and should be. There still persists in this country the idea that animation is somehow a lower art form than live-action films, but the more people see this film, the more things will change. Using animation allows a director to fly effortlessly into the realms of fantasy, and Miyazaki is masterful at it. It amazes me that although western animation has been commercially successful for so much longer, the greatest imaginative leap the directors seem to able to make is talking animals. Brilliant. The Studio Ghibli films, however, are not afraid to make films where almost all of the characters are people (Kiki's Delivery Service) because they are not afraid to take on live-action films on their own territory - they don't feel the need to retreat to the safety of talking animals, where live-action will not usually follow. But the thing about Studio Ghibli films is that they have people and fantastical creatures in the same film, and what's more, interacting with one another.
But I'm speaking too generally. Mononoke is for me the best of the best - see as many Studio Ghibli films as possible, but I think this one is the most brilliant. Personally I prefer the Japanese versions of Studio Ghibli films with the subtitles which match the Japanese script, because the American cast are pretty poor. It is definitely the most beautiful film I have ever seen, fantastically well drawn, but it doesn't hide behind a pretty facade. The story is cracking, great action scenes mixed with truly poignant ones, and the overall environmentalist theme of the story gets more and more relevant with every 8-mile-to-the-gallon American SUV sold.
In a word: stunning. In two words: see it.