1). The Daily Yomiuri

July 10, 1997, Thursday

SECTION: Pg. 9

A spirited battle for nature

Aaron Gerow Special to The Daily Yomiuri ; Yomiuri

It is testimony to the importance of animation in the world of Japanese film that the most successful filmmaker in any genre in the last 13 years--both financially and critically--has without a doubt been Hayao Miyazaki. His epic tales of chivalry and the powers of nature, speaking to generations young and old, have consistently topped the box office charts while simultaneously expanding the horizons of animation and earning him a worldwide following.

Now that he is hinting at retiring, The Princess Mononoke arrives to marvelously encapsulate his brilliant career, though not without revealing one or two signs of aging.

The mythic story clearly returns to familiar Miyazaki territory. In an age long ago, when everything in nature still bore its own "spirit," the young Ashitaka is forced to leave his northern birthplace after a wild boar, somehow transformed into a demon of revenge, attacks his village and leaves the young man with a mysterious wound.

Hoping for a cure, he sets out south and west in search of the legendary all-powerful Shishigami, (lion-like god) until he happens upon a village that is brutally mining the hillsides for iron. That rape of nature has incurred the wrath of Moro, the Wolf Spirit, who attacks the village repeatedly along with San, a human girl who can communicate with the nature spirits and thus earns the name Princess Mononoke (literally, spirits of things).

Ashitaka urges peace between San and the village's female chieftain, Eboshi, but his efforts are thwarted by even greater powers bent on killing the Shishigami and transforming nature into mere objects for humankind to use. What enfolds is a battle over the future of nature itself.

That Princess Mononoke does not necessarily end on a happy note brings this film in line with others of Miyazaki's works--from the masterful Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (1984) to the decidedly pessimistic Pom Poko (1994, produced by Miyazaki and directed by his Studio Ghibli partner, Isao Takahata)--that plea for humanity to live in harmony with nature.

Helping to ground this environmentalism is a compelling animistic world-view, also found in the delightful My Neighbor Totoro (1988), not far removed from Japanese Shinto beliefs. Unlike some of Miyazaki's more mythic creations, Mononoke is most definitely rooted in Japan and its culture.

But Japan--that is, the land of Yamato--does not come off very well in the movie. Ashitaka's northern people resemble the Ainu and Eboshi an Izumo leader while the bad guys are definitely played by the samurai-clad agents of the Yamato emperor. This kind of valorization of defeated ethnicities resonates with both the film's political correctness--especially in the women-led society of Eboshi's village--and its longing for an irretrievable past.

Yet as both nostalgia and myth, Mononoke remains, as with much of Miyazaki's work, temporally and geographically ambiguous, speaking more to universal than local concerns. This may explain his popularity abroad and why Buena Vista, a Disney company, has opted to distribute this and other Studio Ghibli films in the United States.

The Princess Mononoke does stray at times from the center of the Miyazaki path. It most notably lacks the thrilling flying scenes that have dominated so much of the director's works, replacing them with short but exciting digitally produced shots of motion through space, such as of Ashitaka's arrow zooming toward its target. That the arrow usually ends up lopping off an arm or head emphasizes that this is not a children's movie.

At best, one can say that The Princess Mononoke is a powerful compilation of Miyazaki's world, a cumulative statement of his moral and filmic concerns; at worst, that the director may be losing his originality in his old age. But in either case, the creations of the cultural icon Miyazaki have certainly begun to function on the level of myth: No matter how many times we see them, they never cease to entertain and teach us.

2). Yahoo! Entertainment

Friday January 30

REVIEW/FILM: Japan's 'Princess' Set For Royal Reception

Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) (Animated, Japanese, Color, no rating, 2:13)

By Leonard Klady

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Japan's all-time box office champ, "Princess Mononoke," is a rich cartoon fable of bygone gods locking horns with man and with industry, which threatens to unbalance the forces of nature.

Though set in the 14th century, its ecological bias and feminist slant provide a modern resonance. But the picture -- steeped in Asian folklore -- will require shrewd translation to connect with Western audiences. A few deft brush strokes could result in strong theatrical returns and extremely buoyant cassette sales. The animator could reap a bounty from all revenue streams as it ushers in a Japanese animation franchise.

(Disney recently concluded a multipicture acquisition of films by Mononoke director Hayao Miyazaki that will include theatrical and video releases in the U.S. and other territories. Mononoke will open via Miramax in the summer.)

Flying in the face of popular Western animation, Princess Mononoke is not a musical, nor is it primarily directed at preteens, even if that group can readily embrace it. The film represents a bold experiment for Miyazaki, whose earlier work, including Kiki's Delivery Service, The Red Pig and My Neighbor Totoro, had more gentle, youthful themes. The new film, which has grossed more than $150 million in Japan, is not only more sharply drawn, it has an extremely complex and adult script.

The tale begins in Japan's distant and sparsely populated north. In the opening section, young Prince Ashitaka is valiantly fighting off a demon god -- a giant boar seemingly possessed by wormlike creatures. After the prince slays the beast, the village oracle begs its forgiveness, but it has already left its curse on the prince and infected him with a fatal disease. He's told by the seer that he must venture to the west to have the malediction lifted.

The journey evolves into a mystical and violent pilgrim's progress. He encounters bloodthirsty samurai, a corrupt priest and cuddly, docile forest gnomes. Eventually, the prince arrives at the great forest and is befriended by Lady Eboshi, who operates a giant ironworks on its periphery.

Ashitaka finds himself thrust into the middle of several conflicts. Eboshi's clan is in danger of attack by rivals. The great struggle however, is between the factory and the forest families of boars, wolves and the like who are being killed off to make way for industrial expansion. For centuries, the woodland denizens have controlled their turf, but this woman has a powerful secret that's turned the tables -- gunpowder.

Allegiances are further clouded by the arrival of the title character, also known as San. She not only runs with the wolves, she considers herself one of them. San does not know what to make of the young stranger. And though each side considers him friend or foe at various stages, Ashitaka ultimately wants to reconcile the two and find the deer god who can cure his affliction.

In keeping with the best of Disney's toon features, Mononoke develops full characters, obscuring the lines separating it from live-action fare. Eboshi is not some cardboard villain; rather, she is a force of the future, employing society's misfits, such as lepers and ex-prostitutes, and giving them the chance to find dignity in work. She's also headstrong and incapable of backing down once she's thrust into battle.

Pic shares an eco theme with Miyazaki's earlier Pom Poko, but it is much richer, drawing upon the nation's history and adapting folkloric legends for a highly original tale. Princess Mononoke has the soul of a romantic epic, and its lush tones, elegant score by Joe Hisaishi and full-blooded characterizations give it the sweep of cinema's most grand canvases.

Voices:

Ashitaka ........ Yoji Matsuda

San ............. Yuriko Ishida

Lady Eboshi ..... Yuko Tanaka

Jiko ............ Kaori Kobayashi

Koroku .......... Masahiko Nishimura

Gonza ........... Tsunehiko Kamijyo

Toki ............ Sumi Shimamoto

Moro ............ Akihiro Miwa

Oracle .......... Mitsuko Mori

Okkoto .......... Hisaya Morishige

A Miramax Films (U.S.) release of a Tokuma Shoten Co.-Nippon Television Network-Dentsu-Studio Ghibli production. Produced by Toshio Suzuki. Executive producer, Yasuyoshi Tokuma.

Directed, written by Hayao Miyazaki. Animation direction, Masashi Ando, Kitaro Kosaka, Yoshifumi Kondo. Camera (Fujicolor, Panavision widescreen), Atsushi Okui; editor, Takeshi Seyama, Miyazaki; music, Joe Hisaishi; sound (Dolby Digital), Kazuhiro Wakabayashi. Reviewed at Ticketmaster Screening Room, L.A., Jan. 27, 1998.

Reuters/Variety