Mononoke Hime (1997)

There couldn't have been more hype about this anime- the highest grossing film in Japan (excluding James Cameron's Titanic).  It was also rumored to be the last work of acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, known as the Walt Disney of Japan (although I doubt he likes the comparison).  His animation company, Studio Ghibli, has signed a distribution deal with Buena Vista and Miramax (the home video and independent film arms of Disney) to release his films in the United States.  As a result, it has not been easy to find a copy to rent- they plan to re-dub and re-release his films over the course of the next few years.  Mononoke Hime is slated for a Summer '99 theatrical release by Miramax, including the voice of Gillian Anderson (of X-Files fame, duh!).  I found my copy in a local anime rental store- with Chinese subtitles.  I had to watch the film with a copy of the translated English script in hand.

This is my first Miyazaki film- and I wonder if I should have started out with some of his earlier works, including Nausicaa, which apparently influenced this film, in order to prepare myself for his art direction and writing style.  Mononoke Hime is an imaginative fantasy set in a time where animal gods still roam the forests of the land.  When a Tatarigami, a cursed god, rampages through a remote village, Ashitaka, a young man destined to be the leader of the village, confronts it and kills it.  However, he cannot stop the Tatarigami before being wounded on the arm by the monster.  The village elder, Hi-sama, prophesizes that the accursed wound will eat away at Ashitaka's flesh and ultimately kill him.  His only hope is to travel west and find out what cursed the forest god.  His journey inevitably leads to Tataraba, a small town that has been strip-mining the land for lumber and iron.  Their exploitative use of the land has put them in conflict with the wolf gods of the mountains and Mononoke Hime, the young girl raised by the wolves in the forest.

What this film boils down to is the conflict and struggle between humans and nature.  Lady Eboshi, leader of Tataraba, believes that the wealth of the land, hoarded and protected by the forest gods, will give her the ability to improve the lives of her subjects, including the forgotten sick and unwanted women rescued from brothels.   The forest gods, however, fearing their demise at the hands of the disrespectful humans, seek to protect the forest and its ultimate protector- the god Shishigami, who holds the power to both give and take life.  It is said that the head of Shishigami will bring eternal youth to those who can obtain it.

The story isn't anything mind blowing, but it is one that is easily identified with in this day and age.  Ultimately, the film remains optimistic.  Hope and survival drive the characters, especially Ashitaka, who is charged to "see with unclouded eyes" and strives to resolve the conflict in peace.  To be honest, however, I didn't find the characters other than Ashitaka to be very interesting, since they each seem to embody specific themes without convincing growth or development.

Visually, however, the film delivers in spades- especially in its depiction of nature and its inhabitants.  The landscapes are quite beautiful, interrupted only by a few computer generated viewpoints.  Pools of water highlighted by the glow of the moon depict a restorative and cleansing rebirth, the transformation of Shishigami embodies the life and death cycles of nature, and so on.  When Eboshi and her army hunt Shishigami and at one point capture the god and its head, they interrupt this cycle, resulting in death and destruction across the land.  Metaphors and mythological archetypes abound in this film, and it will take additional viewings in the future, perhaps when it hits theaters, to uncover it all.  This film, like Wings of Honneamise, is one for the viewer to sit back and enjoy the view.

Posted: 8-10-1998

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