Princess Mononoke
February 2001 Reviewed by: Roger Kanno Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Hayao Miyazaki may be relatively unknown to North American audiences, but he is legendary in the field of Japanese animation. Another one of his films, Kiki’s Delivery Service, was recently released on video in North America. While it received much critical acclaim, it went otherwise unnoticed. Some people may be more familiar with Totoro merchandise (often displayed next to Hello Kitty products). Totoro (which my wife describes as some kind of gray flying rat) comes from one of Miyazaki’s earlier films, My Neighbor Totoro.

Although I did not care much for Kiki’s Delivery Service, and I have not seen My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke is one of the finest animated films that I have ever seen. Its success is due in large part to Miyazaki’s brilliant vision. As writer, director, and principal animator, he is able to bring his genius to the screen in a manner that will be unfamiliar to most fans of animation. His visual style is breathtaking in its scope. His animation is filled with images of great beauty as well as with scenes of horrible violence. All of the animation appears to be hand drawn, which is a refreshing change from the mostly CGI animation that comes to us from the big Hollywood animation studios these days. The hand-drawn characters convey a sense of humanity and empathy, which is one of the underlying themes of the film.

The main character of the film is Ashitaka. He is a prince who has been injured by a demon god and whose curse will kill him by overcoming him with evil. His only chance to lift the curse is to investigate a conflict that is brewing in his land with "eyes unclouded by hate." Along the way he encounters Lady Eboshi, the matriarch of a village, which is built around an ironworks. Lady Eboshi battles the forest gods, who are angered by her lack of respect for the land, and the Shogun, who envies her industrial might and the guns that she manufactures. And then there is Princess Mononoke, a girl raised by wolves who holds all humans in contempt for their lack of respect for nature. Alongside her adoptive mother, Moro the wolf god, she battles Lady Eboshi and her army of rifle-equipped guards.

Since the story of Princess Mononoke works on so many levels, to describe its plot would be to do it an injustice. At first glance it appears that Lady Eboshi is the antagonist, but her character is actually more greedy than evil and she does exhibit some redeeming characteristics. Ashitaka, who is seeking enlightenment in hopes of freeing himself from his curse, finds himself stuck in the middle of the battle between Lady Eboshi and the forest gods and is drawn inexplicably to the mysterious Princess Mononoke.

Princess Mononoke includes both English and Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks. Minnie Driver and Billy Crudup, who are the most convincing of all the vocal talents in the film, provide the voices of Lady Eboshi and Ashitaka. Claire Danes is suitable as Princess Mononoke as is Billy Bob Thorton as Jigo, but Gillian Anderson’s interpretation of Moro seems awkward, out of place, and is distracting. I would recommend viewing the movie with the Japanese soundtrack and the English subtitles as the English dialogue is sometimes superfluous and tends to detract from the film.

Although the animation of Miyazaki is two dimensional and conventional in its rendering, his vision of the world in Princess Mononoke and the creatures that inhabit it is truly amazing. There is a sense of wonderment and other worldliness in this film, from the bad-ass elk that Ashitaka rides, to the majestic forest gods that rule the land. The video quality is quite good, especially considering that this was originally a foreign release. The colors are vibrant, but lack the last little bit of sparkle that differentiate a good transfer from the very best. Like most recently mastered DVDs, the picture is free of dirt and any obvious damage to the print.

The 5.1 soundtrack is also remarkable considering that this is a Japanese film. As previously mentioned, both Japanese and English 5.1 soundtracks are offered. The auditory experience is not totally realistic, but reflects the onscreen action well. There are some extremely low bass effects and a nicely recorded music score that is used intermittently. The surrounds are also used sparingly, but are effective (e.g. when the kodama (tree spirits) appear and encircle the listener from all directions).

The only extras provided on this disc are the theatrical trailer and a short production featurette, which includes interviews with the actors and production staff involved in the North American production of the film.

Princess Mononoke is sometimes slow moving and it may not be for everyone with its mature themes and numerous scenes of gory violence, but I cannot think of enough superlatives to describe it. There are few extras included with the DVD and the picture and sound quality are good, but not exceptional; however, it is Miyazaki’s amazing visuals and storytelling skills that transform this film into something very special.

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