A beautifully executed film from Studio Ghibli

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2014)

Animals, their gods and humans clash in this fantasy adventure from famed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. Consequently, nature vs humanity is a strong theme throughout Princess Mononoke, meaning that this is an animated movie with a definite message. Most of the humans, after all, are from a mining village who rape the earth, while the sympathetic people are Ashitaka, a boy who fights to bring peaceful co-existence between the opposing forces and Princess Mononoke who actively sides with the animal world and lives amongst them. It's quite clear, therefore, where the film's sympathies lie, although the ecological message is never delivered in a trite obvious manner and there are many shades of grey throughout.
The tone overall is decidedly more mature than most animation and is one of the films from Studio Ghibli that goes for an older adult audience as opposed to the usual family friendly one. It's even quite violent in places, including several decapitations. But irrespective of the darker material it resembles Ghibli anime quite clearly. In any case this renowned animation studio had already released adult fare beforehand, anyone who has seen the harrowing Grave of the Fireflies will understand this. But in terms of visual artistry Princess Mononoke fits right in to the whole Ghibli cannon perfectly. In fact, this one has to be one of their greatest achievements on this front. The forest scenery is stunningly rendered and the invented creatures are consistently interesting. Of note are the wild boars, the night monkeys and the wolf god Moror but most spectacular of all is the deer-like god Shishigami - the colossal nightwalker. This latter being stalks the land in the twilight and generates a strange atmosphere and ambiance all of its own. The scenes towards the end involving it, illustrate the sheer imagination that Ghibli is famed for. The plot-line is not especially great if I am honest but it allows for the film to cover its themes successfully, while integrating them into a wonderfully rendered fantasy world. Like all Ghibli, it benefits considerably too from evolving unashamedly and organically from Japanese culture and mythology; this ensures that from a western perspective, it consistently remains unpredictable and fascinating.