PRINCESS MONONOKE
Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
English Screenplay by Neil Gaiman
Starring Billy Crudup and Clare Danes
With Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett-Smith
and Gillian Anderson
STUDIO GHIBLI
If ever there was a film to shatter your preconceptions and misconceptions of animated cinema, and Japanese animé in particular, this is it.
Princess Mononoke is part morality tale and part romance. On one level, it's a metaphor for the futility of hate: how it consumes and destroys otherwise good people. On another, it's a metaphor for our relationship with Nature. It's also a story about how some people can manipulate others into doing any terrible thing, simply by charming the pants off them.
But at its heart, it's about love. Not soppy, romantic notions of love for a place or a person - although that's certainly in there - but a broader love of life itself, which has a driving purity about it that's hard to resist.
Don't worry. There's lots of the old ultraviolence. Claret by the bucketful. And lepers with bazooka. You don't see that every day.
The dialogue is rich and fits the story perfectly. Neil Gaiman's adaptation of the original Japanese screenplay is beautiful and flowing. On the surface, the characters appear to be drawn with broad strokes. But the dialogue and the acting reveal subtle layers and secret motives, that you might not catch unless you pay close attention. The English-language cast are wonderfully suited to their parts. What that says about Gillian Anderson (wolf-goddess Moro), I'm not entirely certain. But she's damn good.
The animation is of a shamefully high quality. The first time I watched Mononoke, I couldn't get over how intricate and obviously painstakingly made it was, so I watched it again. There are no cut corners, no reused stock footage, no half-measures. The attention to detail, in the movements and body language of all characters, raises them head and shoulders above all other animated fare. Subtle flicks of the wrist and perfectly captured movements make the central characters all the more like real actors, rather than celluloid drawings.
The backgrounds and backdrops of the story are beautiful, rolling green or grey mountains, rich, deep forests and noisy, bustling towns. I found myself a little sad that these places didn't really exist: I'd love to walk through places as beautiful as this.
The soundtrack is conceived in genius and controlled by a master. The main recurring themes recall composers like John Barry: warm, graceful strings and brass. Flutes and voice provide focus during the quieter moments between the male and female leads
Miyazaki's direction is absolutely wonderful. Heart-stopping action sequences and quieter, more intimate scenes are brought to life by his expert touch. He's a juggler in this movie, trying to keep a hundred different balls in the air. You'd think he was juggling apples. With six hands.
Better than every single animated feature ever to come out of Hollywood, and better than almost everything out of Japan, Princess Mononoke lives up to that old cliché of "This One's Got It All!" It's funny, tender, thought provoking and, occasionally, desperately sad. You'll come out of it thinking you'd seen three films, not one.
It's the greatest animated movie, ever.
It's one of the best films I've ever seen.
It's a film you need to see.
Go.
Review text (C) Matthew Craig
Originally published in the pop culture magazine Robot Fist