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Movie Review: 'Princess Mononoke' Characters' emotions give depth to animated 'Mononoke' Wednesday, November 24, 1999 By Tony Norman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Next year, when critics debate which was the most interesting fantasy epic to hit American screens in 1999 -- "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" or Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" -- the smart ones will put their money on a Japanese cartoon that struck all the right notes.
In a way, both films are big, sprawling cartoons, but George Lucas' space opera is burdened with live actors who aren't nearly as compelling as the digitally created characters with which they share the screen.
Consequently, "Princess Mono-noke" trumps "The Phantom Menace," if only because of the uniform excellence and emotional depth of its characters -- qualities that are increasingly rare in Hollywood extravaganzas overly dependent on special effects.
All the characters in "Princess Mononoke," whether servant girl, tortured hero, haughty princess or nature deity, are capable of a full range of emotions and intentions. Even quiet ambivalence can turn into unfocused rage with some justification in this animated parable about nature's collision with modernity.
"Princess Mononoke" is set in 14th-century Japan, a time when the now populous nation was covered primarily with heavy forests. Hundreds of miles separated tiny villages from each other, further accentuating a sense of human isolation in the midst of indescribable natural beauty.
The movie opens with an unprovoked attack on a peaceful village by a giant boar driven mad by a demon parasite. Ashitaka (Billy Crudup) defends his village and kills the sacred animal, which is considered a declaration of war on all of nature.
Ashitaka becomes infected with the same curse that infected the boar god and is sent into the wilderness to find either a cure for his "disease" or permanent exile.
Along the way, Ashitaka is befriended by the wily monk Jigo Boh (Billy Bob Thornton), a duplicitous man with plans that ultimately threaten the integrity of the forests.
Princess Mononoke, also called San (Claire Danes), is the forest's only human denizen. Raised by wolf gods, San is fiercely protective of the forest and is committed to stopping the encroachment of human civilization.
She is suspicious of Ashitaka, but finds herself compelled to help him at various points of his journey.
San's "mother," the giant wolf god Moro (Gillian Anderson), doesn't trust any human. If there is to be a war with them, she'd rather side with the wild boar gods than Ashitaka.
But Moro reserves most of her bitterness for Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), the brave leader of an iron-foraging people who are trying to develop large parts of the village to advance her people.
There is a war that results in the death of hundreds of forest spirits, demons and people.
There's even an apocalyptic battle involving the Great Forest Spirit, and one really is torn about who to root for. "Princess Mononoke" is at its best when it plays upon the viewers' ambivalence.
This is not a movie "for the kids," although young people will enjoy it if they have a taste for Japanese mythology and folk tales. It's a challenge for adults with short attention spans, too, but it is undoubtedly the most intellectually rewarding animated film Americans have seen in quite a while.
Japanese animé is years ahead of its American rival in delivering a kick that is both aesthetically and emotionally gratifying.
Sorry, no flatulence jokes or postmodern navel gazing here -- just good, old-fashioned storytelling by master director Hayao Miyazaki.
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Rating: PG-13, for images of gore and violence.