Princess Mononoke (US reviews - page 6)
5x5Media
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://5x5media.com/eye/film/mononoke.shtml
November 11, 1999, Thursday
Princess Mononoke
By Emru Townsend
[...]
Unlike other themes that Miyazaki revisits repeatedly in his work, the thoroughly delightful Totoro represents Miyazaki's only other venture into this kind of animist world, and in Toronto I asked him about the relationship between Totoro and Princess Mononoke.
"Actually," he said, "I take the exact same approach in both films, which is that there is an invisible world that is surely as real as the world we can see with our eyes, and that we cannot live ignoring the invisible world." Whereas Totoro was a gentle reminder of the world outside, Princess Mononoke serves as a warning.
Miyazaki has always been clear about his goal in the past: entertainment first, lessons second. But while Princess Mononoke features his most visually appealing work to date, it was made with its messages foremost in his mind. During the round table, he elaborated: "We've made many films in the past, and our goal with those films has been to send a message of hope and the possibility of happiness to growing children." But children, he eventually realized, were quite conscious of-- and worried about--the crises around them. "What we realized was that by continuing to make movies that only taught them about hope and happiness, we were in fact turning a deaf ear to their very urgent needs and pleas, and that if we did not make a movie that directly addressed their needs and pleas, we no longer would have the right to make films that would encourage them to be hopeful and happy. So we made this film knowing that we would need to step outside the boundaries of what you call entertainment; we made this film from a sense of mission."
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Daily Bruin (UCLA)
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/db/issues/99/10.29/ae.screenscene.html
October 29, 1999, Friday
"Princess Mononoke"
By Michael Rosen-Molina
"Princess Mononoke" is more than a simple parable of good and evil, and Lady Eboshi is not your standard cartoon villain. She is an honest, well-meaning progressive, and it is the fair treatment of her character that elevates "Princess Mononoke" above the usual Saturday morning fare.
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From the lush, swampy grove of the forest guardian to the industrial grime of Irontown, the breathtaking visuals easily rival the best of Disney. The animation is smooth and beautiful - never once reverting to the cheap, jerky movements for which anime is famous.
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[...] "Princess Mononoke" may not be the greatest animation ever, as it has been called, but it certainly comes close.
CNN
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/9911/15/review.mononoke/
November 15, 1999, Monday
Review: Drawn-out Japanese animation in 'Princess Mononoke'
By Paul Tatara
[...]
Adults and "deeper" teens can warm to the Japanese tendency to mythologize cartoon characters. If you're the type who thinks the paint-by-number spirituality of "Star Trek" is enlightening, the whispered theology and ecological preservation theme of "Princess Mononoke" will knock your socks off.
And if you're looking for gross-out action sequences seldom found in American animation, director Hayao Miyazaki thoughtfully includes a variety of decapitations and warrior-induced mutilations.
Unfortunately, if you don't fit into either of those categories, you might be left wondering what all the fuss is about.
[...]
Be warned. You're setting yourself up for schoolboy irritation of all ages if you don't bow before the throne of "Princess Mononoke." The entire undertaking is presented as if we're being taught a very complex lesson in enchantment and earthly conservation, and people who lean toward Japanimation will convince themselves they're watching something visionary. But it's just a cartoon in the (very) long run, and a surprisingly pompous one, at that.
"Princess Mononoke" has an adolescent fixation on garish violence to offset its self-importance. One guy somehow manages to get both his arms cut off with a single arrow, and heads roll when need be. It's all extremely silly, but children should stay away. Rated PG-13. It's 135 minutes long, so you may want to bring a thermos full of coffee.
TV Guide Online
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.tvguide.com/MovieDb/ShowMovie.asp?MI=40167
November 18, 1999, Thursday
Twilight of the gods
By Maitland McDonagh
Lavishly animated and painstakingly dubbed into English, this grand-scale adventure revolves around man's relationship with the natural world, and the dire consequence of a life out of balance. [...] Directed by revered Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and scripted for US release by cult comic book icon Neil Gaiman (Sandman), this melancholy epic blends mythological archetypes with timely ecological concerns. Its imagery is never less than breathtakingly beautiful, and is occasionally truly awesome: The last stand of the boar tribe and the Nightwalker's rampage are simply unforgettable. And it deftly negotiates the line between accessibility and exoticism: The story's fairy-tale appeal is universal, but the animals are less sweetly anthropomorphized than their Disney cousins, and the clattering tree spirits, with their blank faces and child-ghost bodies, are truly eerie. [...]
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Kids-In-Mind: The Parents' Guide to Movies & Video
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.kids-in-mind.com/P/princessmononoke99.htm
November 19, 1999, Friday
Princess Mononoke
By Aris T. Christofides
In this Japanese animated tale based on Asian folklore, humans, animals, spirits and workers at an iron factory battle for space within a forest. [...]
SEX/NUDITY 1 [...]
VIOLENCE/GORE 6 [...]
PROFANITY 3 [...]
ADULT ISSUES - Asian folklore, nature, demons and gods, industrialization, intolerance, hatred.
MESSAGE - If you don't respect nature, nature can destroy you.
Orlando Sentinel
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November 19, 1999, Friday
Not for little Pokémon fans by Jay Boyar
Whatever you do, don't get Pokémon mixed up with Princess Mononoké.
Yes, they're both from Japan. Yes, they're both cartoons. And, yes, they both start with a "P" and have an "oké" and a "mon" in there somewhere.
But that is where the resemblance ends. Where Pokémon: The First Movie is an innocuous, if tedious, kiddie flick, Princess Mononoke is a much more ambitious - and much more adult - effort.
[...]
Besides, you don't get a free trading card with your ticket to Princess Mononoke. What you do get is a visually intriguing - but maddeningly complex - epic adventure set during Japan's Muromachi era (1392- 1573).
[...]
As a fan of such kid-friendly Miyazaki films as the delightful Kiki's Delivery Service and the soulful My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke came as a special disappointment for me. Although I admire the new film's epic aspirations and visual sophistication, ultimately they are defeated by its almost incoherent plot and sometimes-ludicrous dialogue.
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Watching this film is often like observing a group of people playing an elaborate game for which you don't know the rules. What they're doing obviously has enormous meaning for them, but that meaning is mostly lost on outsiders.
Watching Princess Mononoke, come to think of it, is a little like watching a bunch of kids playing Pokemon.
Girls on Film
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.girlson.com
November 1999
Princess Mononoke by ALeve
When I went to buy tickets to this movie, there was a sign taped to the glass at the box office. It read: "Warning. Princess Mononoke contains graphic depictions of human and animal violence. It is not Pokémon." This to me, seemed like a rather ominous warning. Especially since Pokémon wasn't even playing at the same theater. Why would the box office feel compelled to contextualize? It's not as though they had signs for DOGMA saying, "this is not THE BONE COLLECTOR." Perhaps it's because Pokémon and Mononoke are both animated films from Japan. Still, one would think the customer could, um, read.
After seeing the movie, I understand the sign a little bit better. It acts as a heads up, a courtesy for the potential viewer. But it should have read this way: "Warning. Even if you are over the age of 10, you're still going to have a hard time following the plot."
Princess Mononoke has the scope of a Japanese epic, which is to say its storyline is complicated and extremely difficult to follow.
[...]
Obviously, this is a film for Japanese animation buffs. If you don't fall into that category (and I don't) it's confusing, boring and very, very long. It seemed every time a conflict was about to be resolved, another one would pop up. After two hours of watching people fighting animals, people fighting people, animals fighting forest spirits and Billy Bob Thornton's voice... No matter how beautifully designed a film is, I need an ending. I'm sure people will have issues with the violence because the battles are bloody. But for some reason, when blood gushes out of a cartoon character, it's just not that horrific. What is horrific is the pacing of this film. It goes on forever.
IMDB
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November 1999
Princess Mononoke (1997)
By Jun Yan
[...]
The moral ambiguity makes the story interesting, but the noise from all groups and so many side characters dilute the main conflict and make the plot cluttered and confused. The most annoying is the ape tribe... I'd rather see Miyazaki completely abandon some of these miscelleneous subplots and concentrate on the main story line.
Another consequence of the moral ambiguity is the feeble and naive plea of Ashitaka -- Hatred is bad. Can't we all get along? The appeal of the central character is significantly impaired. Ashitaka is perhaps the most bland hero I've seen for a while. He is so boring, dull, and blah [...] In fact, there is almost no chemistry between San and Ashitaka. [...]
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Movie Magazine International
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.shoestring.org/mmi_revs/mononoke.html
November 3, 1999, Wednesday
The Princess Mononoke
By Alex Lau
Majestic. Complex. Contemplative. Subtle. These are not the usual adjectives one would use to describe an animated film, but "Princess Mononoke" is not your usual animated film.
[...]
The artwork is lush and gorgeous, almost all of it painstakingly done by hand. Still, both the action and the quiet scenes display a smooth power that often made me forget that I was watching animation.
The voice cast, headed by Claire Danes as San, Billy Crudup as Ashitaka, Minnie Driver as Lady Eboshi, and Gillian Anderson as Moro the wolf god, is adequate at worst and utterly convincing at best. Driver's Eboshi easily wields her power and influence as leader of Iron Town, but never loses sight of her compassion for her fellow humans.
[...]
Detroit News
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November 5, 1999, Friday
Japan's 'Princess Mononoke' sets a different standard for animation
By Susan Stark
Those who take the visual aspect of the art of animation seriously want their water evoked to the Disney standard: wet, without a doubt. Princess Mononoke offers another, equally striking, deeper, far more abstract visual standard when it comes to water.
That's just an arbitrarily chosen starting point for the re-education in the art of animation offered by this film from Japan's Hayao Miyazaki.
His water is a simple, variegated blue ground broken by a small flurry of gracefully curved white lines that refer directly to the tradition of Japanese prints. It's by no means the reality of water, as in Disney; rather, it's the essence of water, as in handmade reports from Japan over the centuries.
Set your cap, then, for a visual experience unlike the one you have come to expect from the great Disney fantasies, dramatic or comic. This is heady but deep stuff that happens to be animated, but might as well have been summoned by straight live-action drama.
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FilmHead.com
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November 15, 1999, Monday
Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke)
By Matt Heffernan
This has been a great year for animation, with such varied entries as Tarzan, The Iron Giant, and even South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut for the older crowd. Currently, the top film at the box office is an animated feature from Japan. Unfortunately, it's the Pokemon movie, and not the film I am reviewing today. If the former film is your only exposure so far to what the Japanese call anime, then you have entirely the wrong impression. Animation is not considered a medium exclusive to kiddie fare in Japan, but an artform that allows filmmakers to present a world that cannot be captured properly with live action. Disney attempts to do this, but they can't free themselves of the "family entertainment" burden that they thrust upon themselves many decades ago.
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Between the dynamic visuals and the inspired story, this is easily the best action film of the year. Of course, that's not saying much in a year with hardly any decent action films, but I do not want to discount my previous statement. In fact, this could be the film that finally breaks anime into the American mainstream. But wouldn't you know that Disney has the ball in their court. Their Miramax division bought Princess Mononoke for distribution outside of Asia. Of course, they don't want this film to be widely distributed, because Toy Story 2 is coming on Thanksgiving. Maybe someday they will learn that this film commands a different audience.
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AOL Member Pages
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November 17, 1999, Wednesday
Princess Mononoke Movie Review
By Anthony Leong
[...]
"Princess Mononoke" is by no means your average song-and- dance Disney musical. Those expecting a relaxed afternoon with the kids may be shocked by the level of on-screen violence, including scenes in which numerous characters are decapitated or dismembered (interestingly enough, this film was cited as being an influence on a serial killer in Tokyo who dismembered several schoolchildren). However, like "Saving Private Ryan", the violence of "Princess Mononoke" does not serve the purpose of 'mindless visual eye candy'-- it is there as a statement against 'cartoon violence', depicting the horrible consequences of hatred and aggression. Likewise, there are no clear-cut 'good' or 'bad' characters in this film, as the characters' actions are based on their own perspective and values. As a result, the central conflict of the film, man vs. nature, is not simply a matter of 'good' overcoming 'evil'-- instead, the characters must overcome their own prejudices and agendas to find an uneasy middle-ground. In many ways, "Princess Mononoke" is thematically-similar to Miyazaki's "Warriors of the Wind" ("Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa"), a 1984 anime in which a girl finds herself caught between rival factions trying to rebuild war technology in a post- apocalyptic world.
Like all of Miyazaki's work, the animation is pristine and often breathtaking, particularly the sharply realized action sequences. The care and attention to detail that Miyazaki's pays to each animated cel is the result of the master animator single-handedly drawing every single frame in the film. Those who believe that only the workshops at Disney can create vivid landscapes and dynamic characters with a paintbrush should certainly see the artistry at work here.
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Sun Newspapers (Cleveland)
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.sunnews.com/entertain/movies99/movies111899.htm#princess
November 18, 1999, Thursday
"Princess Mononoke"
By Stan Urankar
Uh, animated beheadings can be fun to watch, too. And, believe it or not, you'll see heads roll and limbs severed with the best of them in "Princess Mononoke."
This Japanese fable, which is the country's second most popular film of all time ("Titanic" rules!), is part spirituality, part 14th-century folklore and all painstakingly drawn, as created by Hayao Miyazaki, the Walt Disney of Japan.
[...]
Though "Princess Mononoke" purposely blurs the lines of good and evil, its animated artistry becomes plainly obvious to anyone who spends a rewarding 21/4 hours with it.
24 Frames Per Second
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.24framespersecond.com/reactions/films/princessmononoke.html
November 19, 1999, Friday
PRINCESS MONONOKE
By Edward Champion
[...]
Hayao Miyazaki is considered by many to be the reigning grand master of anime. Perhaps best known here for his 1989 film, Kiki's Delivery Service, a tale of a witch-in-training, he is now being given the royal treatment by Miramax with a dazzling new opus, Princess Mononoke. While this edition is dubbed (frowned upon by anime loyalists for the Bruce Lee-like execution and the generally poor translation), this particular dubbing is different. The English translation has been written by fantasy and comic book virtuoso Neil Gaiman and Jack Fletcher, a man who worked on some of Miyazaki's other American translations. The voices have been provided by top-notch talent. Gillian Anderson, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton and Jada Pinkett Smith have all leant their voices for this task.
[...]
And if you're thinking that Princess Mononoke might just be a sweeping allegory of humanity's growing command of technology and its conflict with the natural elements, then you're spot on. If you've spent your life resisting the allure of anime, then Princess Mononoke is the movie for you. It is a film of rich beauty that raises philosophical questions about our existence. From the cute little Kodama spirits who inhabit the trees to the noble Yakul elk creatures who meet up with Ashitaka later in the film, Princess Mononoke is embodied with the ambient textures and rich details of a world not regularly glimpsed on the big screen, a land generally confined to our own imaginations when reading C.S. Lewis or Fritz Leiber. While the storyline may be intricate and a tad convoluted (the above represents my best attempts to pare it down to the basics), Princess Mononoke is that rare kind of film that you will find yourself becoming absorbed into.
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Nitrate Online
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.nitrateonline.com/1999/rmononoke.html
November 19, 1999, Friday
Princess Mononoke
By Jerry White
[...]
The narrative is still pretty heavy on the fairy-tale tropes, and even though it invokes these metaphors that I just mentioned, does little to explore them, focusing instead on fairly literal- minded magical and pastoral themes.
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I will admit that the film has some bits that are visually impressive... And yet, there's something that feels a little bit empty about all of this, and at time veers into the cheesy. The cheesiness is especially visible in a sequence where our hero shoots opposing warriors with arrows, and their heads fly off, indicating the supreme, ultimately evil power he is acquiring. It's difficult indeed to separate these sequences from the kind of silliness that you'd find in any random comic book, except that they take themselves a whole lot more seriously. I can see why a lot of people would understand the concluding, mystical sequence to be the film's supreme visual achievement [...] And yet, what Miyazaki is evoking here is a kind of mushy-new-agey linkage of man and nature, which I'm sure has all kinds of links to Japanese culture and tradition but which is not, in this film, explored with anything more than a surface, feel-good kind of gloss.
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Not much judgment seems to have been exercised by the Miramax people in finding voices that would really suit these characters. [...] What this English language version of what is at heart a very Japanese film reminds me of, more than anything else, is the Giorgio Morodoer version of the silent classic Metropolis (1926).
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As most readers can guess, that version of Metropolis did little to increase Fritz Lang's fame among young American audiences; I suspect that in ten years or so the same will be said about this version of Princess Mononoke and Japanese animation. This is a film that seems rather unimpressive to begin with, and this matter is not helped by cynical attempts by Miramax to exploit its potential for profit. I suspect that hard-core anime fans will find many familiar aspects to latch on to and admire in Princess Mononoke, but even they will probably be irritated by the voice-overs. As for the rest of us, there's not much exceptional about this film in terms of world cinema as a whole. In so self-consciously seeking the lucrative, mush middle ground, Miramax is likely to end up satisfying nobody with this film.
Pitch Weekly (Kansas City)
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.tipjar.com/dan/mononoke.htm
November 23, 1999, Tuesday
Princess Mononoke
By Dan Lybarger
Writer-director Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke may be a cartoon, but it's an "adult" movie in the best sense of the word. While it features the same fanciful images that one typically expects from animated flicks, Princess Mononoke has a moral and ideological intricacy that has evaded most of this year's live-action releases.
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Of course the situation is a good deal more complicated than any the participants imagine, and that is exactly what makes Princess Mononoke so fascinating. Miyazaki skillfully weaves traditional Japanese folklore and history with his own creations and perspective. The movie itself is an allegory about the way urbanization has absorbed most of the land in Japan. But Miyazaki does more than simply sing the praises of environmentalism. The characters may be imaginative (like the swivel-headed forest sprites called Kodama), but Miyazaki makes his protagonists as involved and as flawed as real people. [...]
Even if the story were as vapid as a typical Pokémon episode, Princess Mononoke would be worth viewing merely for Miyazaki's lush images. Few details escape his eye. Even the clouds are carefully rendered. Unlike some recent Disney efforts, the film isn't marred by dull obligatory songs or pat conclusions. It is rewarding to see a cartoon that has more than a McDonald's tie-in for inspiration.
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The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee)
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.gomemphis.com/capages/appeal/movies/a23mono.htm
November 23, 1999, Tuesday
World of 'anime' Where the unique 'Princess Mononoke' rules
By John Beifuss
Is America ready for a PG-13-rated cartoon epic rooted in 15th Century Japanese folklore and 20th Century environmental awareness in which a feral wolf-girl and an elk-riding prince battle demons, befriend forest gods and lop off the arms and heads of wicked samurai?
Let's hope so. Princess Mononoke is a unique moviegoing experience that should prove to American audiences what the rest of the world already knows: A cartoon feature doesn't have to slavishly adhere to the Disney formula of cute animals and singing teapots to be worthwhile.
[...]
With its epic scope, sometimes gruesome battles and 133-minute length, Princess Mononoke is more reminiscent of the movies of Akira Kurosawa than of Walt Disney. Still, mature children should enjoy it, in part because they will envy Mononoke's freedom and her ability to communicate with animals.
The animation - a combination of old-fashioned hand-drawn cels and modern computer techniques - is beautifully rendered, with the clean lines and cunning draftmanship that are characteristic of director Hayao Miyazaki.
Two of Miyazaki's earlier movies, My Neighbor Tortoro (1988) and Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), received limited American theatrical distribution and are now available on video. Both are utterly charming and brilliant, and - unlike Mononoke - contain nothing objectionable for children of any age. After meeting Mononoke, parents should do their young children a favor and introduce them to Tortoro (a furry forest spirit) and Kiki (a 13-year-old witch). If the children aren't grateful, kids today have become more jaded than we feared.
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Baltimore Sun
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November 24, 1999, Wednesday
Cartoons of character 'Toy Story 2' and 'Princess Mononoke' may herald a new golden age of animation where art and maturity are as impressive as the action.
By Ann Hornaday
Is a second Golden Age of animation upon us?
In a year when "The Iron Giant" was tragically overlooked by family audiences and "Pokemon: The First Movie" was giving Japanese animation a bad name, here come two movies that prove once again how ingenious, artful and flat-out entertaining animation can be. In radically different ways, "Toy Story 2" and "Princess Mononoke" bring the art form back to its roots as a medium meant for for general audiences, not just kids.
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They also serve to remind us of animation's original premise, that the animated two-dimensional image may have more expressive latitude and physical flexibility than live-action film. This idea is explored to its full potential in "Toy Story 2" and "Princess Mononoke," both of which know that all the technical sophistication in the world can't make up for two essential principles as old as Mickey Mouse (b. 1928): story and character.
Following in the footsteps of such greats as Frank Tashlin, Ollie Johnston, Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, the makers of "Toy Story 2" and "Princess Mononoke" have animated the two-dimensional image with such clarity, acumen and expressiveness that they bring entire worlds to life.
Where "Toy Story 2" is bold and broad, "Princess Mononoke" is subtle and shaded. Where "Toy Story 2" is a simple story well told, "Princess Mononoke" is a sometimes over-complicated story featuring myriad characters of complex motivations. Where "Toy Story 2" is clearly meant for children, all the while making sure their adult companions are similarly entertained, "Princess Mononoke" is clearly meant for teenagers and grown- ups.
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Quiet of a different kind lies at the heart of "Princess Mononoke," Hayao Miyazaki's epic myth set in feudal Japan. From its very first moments, when a shroud of mist parts to reveal a dense forest underneath, it's clear that Miyazaki's movie -- his first to be released in the United States -- will have less to do with broad strokes and blustery action than with nuance, ambiguity and contemplation.
[...]
With a Luminist's attention to light, water, shadow and smoke, Miyazaki creates an epochal story born of history, myth and Shinto animism. Helped enormously by Joe Hisaish's lush orchestral score, Miyazaki creates an enchanted bower where tiny wood sprites click their heads back and forth reassuringly, and where a god's footstep creates an imprint of colorfully unfurling flowers.
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The Cincinnati Enquirer
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://cincinnati.com/freetime/movies/mcgurk/112699_princessmononoke.html
November 24, 1999, Wednesday
'Mononoke' dazzlingly sophisticated example of Japanese animation
By Margaret A. McGurk
Princess Mononoke is an animated fable of dazzling artistry, one of the most beautiful ever made.
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Director Hayao Miyazaki, a figure of awed reverence among animators, spins an enchanted tale that is by turns beautiful, exciting, violent and very Japanese.
Friends become enemies and vice versa. The height of victory comes not when the enemy is dead and bleeding, but when he becomes your collaborator.
This is a subtle value compared to the ham-fisted violence of American adventures. It certainly makes for a more sophisticated story than we're used to seeing in cartoon form.
The Cincinnati Post
The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at: http://www.cincypost.com/living/princess112499.html
November 24, 1999, Wednesday
Fantastic 'Princess' not for little kids
By Craig Kopp
If Pokeman leaves you flat, and 'Toy Story 2' doesn't interest you, 'Princess Mononoke' is certainly worth a look.
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[...] 'Princess Mononoke,' the master work of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, is long, sometimes violent and too confusing for young children. But for adults, Princess Mononoke nearly reinvents our concepts of what animated features look like and explore.
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'Princess Mononoke' is a more complicated story than American audiences are accustomed to. But there's ample time to gain enough understanding to enjoy the challenging story line. And besides, 'Princess Mononoke' is flat-out fantastic to look at.
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