Mononoke-Hime

I remember going out with friends to a packed theatre when I saw this movie, which was one of few anime movies in a film festival. And the instant we saw them, we all wanted kodama toys... And having watched some Legend of Korra recently, I wanted to check it out again.

This is one of those classic progress of man (or rather woman) vs nature. Progress has unbalanced nature and it is running amok, leading Ashitaka to become cursed and wanting to find the source. Which he does in the form of Lady Eboshi and her ironworks, taking from the land and making guns. Opposed to her are the animals of the forest, the wolf and boar clans, and the main wolf's 'daughter' San. (Interestingly, in the Japanese version, Moro is male, but for the English version, Moro is female.) Lady Eboshi wants to kill the Deer God and claim the forest, but that doesn't go very well...

It's a Miyazaki film, so of course it is great! Great characterisation, wonderful creature designs, and a spiritual movie that awes as much as it provokes discussion. While the English version has some big names, I prefer to go for the Japanese version (because I'm a snob - or because I can then speed up the video and watch the subtitles without getting distracted by hearing the dialogue - even if the subtitles had some rather interesting errors).

If you haven't seen it... why not? Go and see this!

[END]