Beautiful and deep; one of the best movies ever

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 1999)

Princess Mononoke is stunningly beautiful art, with wondrous detail in nearly every scene. The animation is rich and imaginative; the demon forms and the forest god's "night walker" form are images I've never seen before, and the forest scenes are full of beauty and wonder. The sometimes-gory violence isn't just mindless action; one can almost feel the pain of characters when they are injured. Even the dubbed English (the only version I've seen) script is matched fairly well to the original lip movements. The voice actors are good or excellent, particularly Minnie Driver (Lady Eboshi), Billie Crudup (Ashitaka), and Jada Pinkett (Toki, a smaller part). Finally, the story is deep and thoroughly involving.
The depth of the plot is shown in the way the many factions act. Each contends for its own interests, rather than for an abstract cause of good or evil. Most believe their own cause to be good, and opposing interests to be the enemy; each shows goodness and flaws.
In the simplest view, the conflict is between the Lady Eboshi's industrial Iron Town and the gods and animals of the forest. But there are more factions in conflict than just those two.
The remainder, except the final paragraph, includes possible minor spoilers.
In the introduction, Ashitaka fights a demon -- a god driven to madness by pain and hate. He kills it, at the cost of a curse that will slowly kill him. He chooses permanent exile from his home, the dying idyllic Emishi civilization (elsewhere thought to be long dead). He sets out on his quest with a heart unclouded by hate, in hope of the possibility that the curse might be overcome.
He travels West to the source of the conflict that turned the god into a demon, and learns of the numerous factions in the conflict. One major side is the Forest, with its gods and animals, divided into a number of factions. The other major side is the humans, also divided into several factions, most in conflict with the Forest.
The Forest is united in its desire to prevent destruction by human encroachment, but divided into factions with different ideas of how to protect their world. The boars favor a frontal assault, to kill the humans or die trying, even though they're somewhat aware that they're more likely to die trying. The monkeys favor a defensive approach, replanting the forest and killing humans opportunistically. The wolves -- including San, the Princess Mononoke -- understand the humans' strength from fighting them, and hate them, but urge caution in fighting such a dangerous enemy. Finally, there are the Forest Spirit and the Kodamas, whose motivations are deep and mysterious.
The humans are divided also. Lady Eboshi and her Iron Town are the main human faction. Eboshi is loved by her people, who include outcasts from other human societies: former prostitutes whose freedom she has bought and lepers she has taken in. Instead of conventional women's clothing, she wears a man's pirate coat. A minor faction is the samurai, who seek Lady Eboshi's iron. Another human faction is the monk Jigo, who befriends Ashitaka but seeks (with his hunters) the mountain of gold the emperor has promised to anyone who can bring him the forest's secret of immortality.
Finally, there is Ashitaka, who starts out with his own agenda, to overcome his fatal curse. Along the way, he learns to see the good in both the Forest and Iron Town. He becomes a friend of them both, and looks for a solution that allows both of his new friends to survive, while continuing to hope for a cure to his curse.
Few movies have this much depth of plot detail. The story is deeply involving, and takes many unexpected paths. The art is beautiful, wonderfully imaginative, and moving. The animation and voices are well done. I could find no flaws. This is one of the best movies ever.