This is our combined film diary response for FIL230, Asian Film History (:
This is my second Hayao Miyazaki film after Spirited Away (2001). Though I am not really an animation genre fan, this is a film that spoke very deeply to me and I was particularly awed by the painterly landscapes in the cells.
This is an analysis of Critics' Picks by New York Times about the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoZpCmcnM_s&feature=fvw
In the video, Scott points out that the film is a complex one that speaks of the relationship between Humans and Nature. I agree very much with Scott that Miyazaki's anime is not for children, but deals with adult oriented issues that are pertinent to the audience. The humanisation of animals like the Deer God and Wolf God Moro creates a supernatural fantasy world. However, these supernatural beings like Gods and demons live in a world threatened by human presence. The whole film feels like a rather dystopic universe, with both fighting to strike a balance in order to co-exist. The film makes a powerful statement about modernisation with its multi-faceted characters that cannot be easily classified as good and evil. Miyazaki avoids stereotypical characters and even Lady Eboshi is compassionate towards prostitutes and the sick, giving them opportunities.
Based entirely on the imagination of the creator, anime is a free-form creation, giving much flexibility to the auteur and can potentially create a more emotionally intense experience, being more graphic and the audience is more accepting of illusion, suspending their disbelief. I agree with Scott in saying that there is some resemblance to Disney films in Princess Mononoke, due to its mythical and enchanted creatures and the imaginary world it creates. It reflects Japan's fascination with legend, mythology and folklore. I think Nago, the wild boar demon, is animated really grotesquely to bring across the corruption and hatred that humans bring in their attempt to civilise nature. It is no wonder with acquisition of software and hardware of computer graphics for the film caused the expenses to soar to a total of $19.6 million. The production team has succeeded in integrating new technologies into the conventional animation process with rendering effects. Computer generated imagery helps create a sense of solidity and the juxtaposition of pastoral landscapes and outbreaks of violence helps to bring out the conflict inherent in both forces. I suppose this is much linked to Japanese fascination with art, bringing it into their other mediums such as film. Anime, in itself is a trans-media art with hand-drawings, digital tools, cinema and even some incorporation of games. It shows the extraordinary that we are unable to show with real life characters.
The main themes of Princess Mononoke centre around ecology, the whole way of life and the interdependence of living things on each other. It also points at the prenational Japanese state with the references to the samurai and emperor. This marvellous world can be said to be a depiction of the real world that the audience lives in, many of the themes are worth thinking about. Humans are portrayed as the catalyst of destruction and only Ashitaka is redeeming and helps to strike a balance between the two forces, harmonising nature and society.
Resources:
The anime art of Hayao Miyazaki (2006) by Dani Cavallaro
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