Princess Mononokei's battle between Nature vs. Civilization

While watching Princess Mononokei, there was one key element that I kept being drawn to.  This was the battle between and industrialized civilization and nature.  This conflict was presented through many lenses in both the film’s plot and characters, but also through its setting and scenery.  The use of scenery and the contrast it creates was what really fascinated me about this film.  An example of this is the contrast between The Iron Works, and the nature surrounding it (seen in the picture below).  The Iron Works’ is portrayed using only light and dark colors, more specifically black and brown, which is coupled with the intense detail of the town’s defenses and buildings to give off an ominous and intimidating aura.  This is contrasted with the nature background which gives off quite the opposite aura by not being too detailed and using brighter colors, such as different shades of green and light gray.  Additionally, the way the smoke that lifts off The Iron Works, and the slight green coloring on its hill side, almost make it appear that there is already a battle being waged between these two forces.

             I also feel that this conflict can be seen as the creativity of nature versus the rigidity of civilization.  The Komda or tree spirits, as seen below, embody the creativity of nature through their depiction of an abstract concept, spirits, in a meaningful and entertaining way.  Additionally, the Komda embody this creativity because despite sharing a common form, they’re all unique in both their appearance and movements.   On the other hand, the ape spirits that surround The Iron Works embody the lack of creativity civilization brings.  These spirits are very dark and obscured during the film, and their red eyes are the only semi-interesting aspect of them.  They also have a strikingly similar appearance which depicts the uniformity that society impresses upon us.

              It is next to impossible to ignore the plot’s role in this battle between civilization and nature.  Ashitaka interprets this battle as a conflict between humans and nature spirits, and throughout the film he attempts to restore a balance between these two forces.  In essence, I believe that there is one all-encompassing conflict in this film which still is and always will be applicable to real life.  This is the battle between nature’s creativity and power, and humankind’s unimaginative and destructive power. In my opinion, Ashitaka’s solution to this conflict is simple and should be employed more in real-life situations.  This solution is to find a balance between these two forces, because one cannot exist without the other.