Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke

Hi everyone! Chloe here.

In this post I’m going to be sharing my opinions on the film Princess Mononoke. First of all, let me start off by saying that I absolutely adore Ghibli films (they were my childhood) and so I am so excited that we are getting a chance to watch their films in class, even if it is only two of them. Anyways, on to the actual film analysis:

I’m going to start off with what I didn’t like and end on a more positive note. The story, in my opinion, ends too abruptly; it doesn’t feel as if there is enough conclusion. Hayao Miyazaki has stated on multiple occasions that he doesn’t like sequels, saying that he doesn’t want to kill the story, he would rather leave questions unanswered and have his viewers be left wondering, ultimately creating an ending as they see fit. That being said, the story nevertheless seems unfinished and would have benefited from a bit more closure. This is especially the case with Sen and Ashitaka’s relationship; regardless of whether it was romantic or otherwise,

(I'm inclined to feel romantic but to each their own)

their goodbyes in the final scenes seemed a bit cold. They just went through a traumatic ordeal together and both seem content to immediately go off their separate ways. This reaction seems a bit inhuman; I would assume that after times of hardship, one would feel drawn to familiarity for strength and support, and yet they both seem rather indifferent.

I know that this was most likely another thing intended by Miyazaki, who has made a point to say that his films are not intended to be love stories but rather explorations of human development and friendship. So I don’t really know, I guess Miyazaki has excused himself for both of these cases but I am still left feeling that the stories ending would have been more effective if it had had more of a conclusion and if we hadn’t been baited into a relationship that would never end up happening.

Why exactly is this necessary?

Another problem I had with the film was from an animation standpoint, although it is visually beautiful, some of the screen direction and cuts would have benefited from a bit of alteration. The main problem was that many of the scenes were too long, this is especially evident in one of the final scenes when it pans to look at the ravaged mountain side, and the camera then proceeds to look at the same mountainside for the next thirty seconds.

This same problem is seen throughout the film, though for the most part it tends to be just a few extra seconds here and there. Overall I feel like those extra seconds could have been compiled up to form a few extra minutes that would have been better used in conclusive material.

Sorry, I suppose after all that complaining you wouldn't believe it but I actually do love this film. On to the positives I promised you earlier!

Princess Mononoke has a strong overlying theme of environmentalism, showing how the humans ravaged the lands and destroyed the forest to fulfil their greedy desires.

The result of course is the angering of all the forest dwellers, both both godly and otherwise and the domino effect that starts the protagonist on his path and fuels the story forward. 

 (Sorry but I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent here because this has always been something I've loved about their films. Environmentalism is actually quite a popular theme as far as Ghibli Studios is concerned, with most of their films carrying environmental undertones, if not centralizing around the theme. "Naussicaa of the Valley of the Wind," the studio's first full length feature film, was one centralizing around pollution, human impact on the world and the destruction of nature. In "Spirited Away," there are multiple mentions to the theme, mainly, the scene where the protagonist, Chihiro, must cleanse the river god of all the waste humans have thrown into his river.

 There are a myriad of other mentions to this theme within the film, including the spirits associating humans with filth, And of course the fact that one of the primary characters, Haku, forgets who he is and is unable to find his way home because they humans have built over his river, turning it into apartments.)

Another thing that is both true with Princess Mononoke and the other Ghibli films is the overall trend of feminism leading to diverse, three dimensional women playing strong female roles. Despite the fact that there is no clear hero or villain in this film, at the spear point of the opposing sides lies not a man, but a woman, with Sen leading the forest and Lady Eboshi leading humanity.

Most of all though, the thing I love about this film and continue to love upon returning to this film over the years, is the phenomenal animation. Studio Ghibli has a way of breathing life into their characters and landscapes that has always amazed me.

I'll leave you with a few examples but honestly I could have taken anything from this film and the animation would have been great.

(I hope this wasn't too boring...)
-Chloe