Beautiful animated film!

Rating: 10/10 (17 August 2005)

From acclaimed animator Hayao Miyazaki ("Kiki's Delivery Service," "Castle in the Sky," "Porco Rosso," 2002's "Spirited Away," the recent "Howl's Moving Castle," etc., etc.) comes one of the late 90's most acclaimed films - "Mononoke hime" (better known by its English title, "Princess Mononoke"). Taking place in Japan somewhere in the late medieval times to the early Renaissance in Europe (you can tell its time period since you see guns), this animated epic tells the tale of Ashi-taka, the young prince of a lost Emishi Tribe.
The tale begins when Ashi-taka slays a boar demon and saves his village from that monster. But in slaying the beast, he gets cursed, and a wound appears on his right arm. In search for a cure, he journeys, with his "red elk" Yarraku, out from his village, never to return.
He eventually comes upon Irontown, led by the feisty Lady Eboshi. He is welcomed in that town, and meets several people including Gozo, Eboshi's brute henchman, Toki, a feisty woman worker (like all the women in town, formerly a prostitute until Eboshi bought her freedom), and Toki's husband whom Ashitaka saved, Kohroku. It is in Irontown that Ashitaka learns that Eboshi was was the one who accidentally caused the boar demon to attack his village, since she shot the former animal god and caused it to become angry.
Irontown is a modern town and its inhabitants produce rifles, cannons, and other modern weapons introduced to Japan by Westerners. Irontown, a symbol of machinery and metal, sits near an old forest inhabited by spirits and animal spirits, who constantly wage war against Irontown, whose citizens are constantly destroying the forest. It is in this forest that Ashitaka meets San, or, as the rest of Irontown calls her, Princess Mononoke. San was abandoned in the forest and raised by wolves, under the guidance of Moro, the wolf spirit of the forest. San hates human beings (even though she is one), and is determined, under the point of death, to protect the forest from human beings, who are constantly destroying it in an attempt to modernize Japan.
San and her fellow nature-loving animals are at war with humanity. Amidst a series of events and many characters, lovable and loathsome, Ashitaka develops a close friendship with San and attempts to bring peace between man and nature.
"Mononoke hime" is a very complex film. Its script, handwritten by Miyazaki using his storytelling talent, is filled with many issues, mostly concerning the role of man in protecting and defiling nature. Although "Mononoke" may seem like a simple environmentalist film, its issues are actually deeper than that. The cast of characters is great, filled with lovable (and loathsome) people, all of which are three-dimensional. It's great that Miyazaki chooses to make his characters complex. There are no true good or bad guys in this story. Even the "bad guys" are have redeeming qualities. Eboshi, the leading antagonist of this tale, is actually a caring person and houses detested lepers, even giving them a life in Irontown.
"Mononoke" is a very fine film. The animation is gorgeous and beautiful to look at. While in the West, animators are resorting to CGI (i.e. Pixar films, and I love Pixar), Japan retains a traditional method of hand-drawn animation, and thank God for Miyazaki's genius! The score, too, is excellent, and the composer, Joe Hisaishi, is a genius. Combine the score with breath-taking cinematography, gorgeous hand-drawn figures, stylized action scenes, and a powerful story complete with memorable characters, "Mononoke hime" is a treat for every movie-goer. This is a mature film in terms of story and content. It even has a few (non graphic) be-headings and dismemberment's, earning it its PG-13 rating in the US.
Originally released in Japan, this film featured Yôji Matsuda as the Ashitaka and Yuriko Ishida as the title character (Mononoke/San). It was translated into English, featuring the voices of Billy Crudup as Ashitaka, Claire Danes as San, Minnie Driver (in one of her few notable voice performances alongside Disney's "Tarzan") as Eboshi, Gillian Anderson (X-Files) as Moro, Billy Bob Thorton as greedy monk Jigo, and a large cast of English-speaking actors. This English version, alongside the Jap version, was a success. It remains today as one of the best animated features.
Miyazaki, we salute you!
134 minutes Rated PG-13 for images for violence and gore