Exiled because of the curse, Prince Asitaka finds himself in the center of a confrontation between two worlds - the ancient world of nature and the young human civilization. People advance, mine iron, build machines and make weapons, but nature does not give up, defending itself with ancient magic.
Interestingly, there is no excessive “ecological pathos” in the film. Both sides of the conflict are shown objectively and dispassionately. The leader of the people, the mistress of the Iron City, Mrs. Eboshi hates wild animals and the spirits of the forest; but she is driven by the desire to benefit people, improve their lives, build a new shelter for the outcasts, where no one will feel useless, contributing to the common cause. The spirits of nature try to contain the destructive onslaught of people and preserve the secrets of the forest from the terrible sacrilege conceived by Eboshi and the wandering monk Jiko-Bo - but they are cruel and intolerant of people, dreaming of exterminating them indiscriminately, do not even want to think about compromise and negotiation. Asitaka faces a much more difficult task than he initially thought - not just to get rid of the curse imposed on him, but to banish the dark forces awakened by man forever. Demons that destroy all life in their path are the result of confrontation between people and spirits, a monstrous creation of hatred and irreconcilable malice. Born from the gods of the forest killed by humans, they become enemies of both nature and man, and only by uniting people and the inhabitants of the forest can they be saved.
As I said, “Princess Mononoke” is devoid of the usual “fairytale” – it is a cruel myth about the death of the old world, about the search for humanity’s place and mission, about how ancient forces leave the land to man. And the future of people depends on how they dispose of this land, whether they are good masters or conquerors, taking everything and leaving behind only ashes. Miyazaki does not seek to somehow mitigate what is happening on the screen, “Princess Mononoke” is one hundred percent anime, a cruel and serious philosophical fantasy, not pretending to be a children’s fairy tale. This caused many to misunderstand the film, partly because Miyazaki is still a children's director, partly because of the silly stereotype of "cartoons are for children." What to do - Western animation, despite the great history, has remained a "non-serious" appendage of cinema and is still tossed between two extremes - nauseatingly censored disneyism and vulgar (and sometimes frankly vulgar) satirical shows. People who make “Princess Mononoke” absurd “censorship demands” would be advised to just forget for a while that they have drawn characters. It's not a cartoon, it's a movie, and it's a serious movie. And for this, thank you - for the "unglamorous" war, where heads are not faked, for the really terrible embodiments of the wrath of Nature - obsessed with Okcotonusi and asks for the cover of some extreme metal album.
There is one small flaw in this film. Each of the characters is ambivalent - Okkotonusi is fair, but obsessed with revenge to the point of fanaticism; Mrs. Eboshi hates spirits and is a consumerist of Nature, but helps people and fights for the progress of mankind; Princess Mononoke loves animals but hates people; the wandering monk is a scoundrel, but saves Asitaka from death, etc. In addition to Asitaki, he is always “all in white”, always right, his decisions are weighed and fair, his actions are bold and at the same time thought out. The hero-resonator is a seductive by its simplicity, but a cheap and primitive artistic technique. But what to do – apparently, according to the creators of the film, in the epic myth should be a Hero with a capital letter.
Bottom line: Princess Mononoke is a great movie that I would recommend but with a caveat. It has nothing to do with good-natured Gone Ghosts or The Walking Castle. This is the other side of Miyazaki’s work – a serious story full of questions, some of which humanity has already answered incorrectly, and the price of those answers was high.
9 out of 10
Original