fantasy

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Princess Mononoke – Film Analysis (Introduction to Japanese Film – Week 3)

Hayao Miyazaki is Japan’s most famous animator and probably the world’s best living animator. Along with Isao Takahata, he founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 after the success of Nausicaa.  Eight of Studio Ghibli’s films are among the 15 highest-grossing anime films made in Japan. The Academy Award winning Spirited Away still holds the box-office record in Japan, sitting comfortably above Titanic. However, despite box office glory, his films are remarkably beautiful and clever, as we will see with Princess Mononoke.

Princess Mononoke

Miyazaki’s films have contained many progressive themes, such as pacifism, environmentalism, and feminism whilst being critical of capitalism, globalisation, and modernisation. After making the happy worlds of Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service Miyazaki wanted to make something more powerful with Princess Mononoke. In his own words:

“We’ve made many films in the past, and our goal with those films has been to send a message of hope and the possibility of happiness to growing children. What we realized was that by continuing to make movies that only taught them about hope and happiness, we were in fact turning a deaf ear to their very urgent needs and pleas, and that if we did not make a movie that directly addressed their needs and pleas, we no longer would have the right to make films that would encourage them to be hopeful and happy. So we made this film knowing that we would need to step outside the boundaries of what you call entertainment; we made this film from a sense of mission.”

Princess Mononoke addresses many issues absent from Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. It was his return to the more political realms of Nausicaa and Laputa, of films which promote awareness of global issues such as discrimination, global warming, and war.

 

  1. Industry vs. Nature

To understand the context a little better, let me tell you that Miyazaki chose to set this film in the Muromachi Period (1336-1573). Japan had always been fairly closed off from the rest of Asia, but the Muromachi period was around the time when new ideas (religion) came to Japan. Whereas before, people worshipped nature, they now sought to tame it. Hence the deforestation around Iron Town to fuel the growth of civilization.

As we will explore throughout this analysis, Miyazaki somewhat impartially poses nature against human civilization. Yes, the iron cannon balls that caused the great boar at the beginning to turn to a demon were from Iron Town, showing that humanity doesn’t care enough about nature. But juxtaposing that, the leader of Iron Town is a strong woman who takes in lepers and former prostitutes, giving them jobs and food. Nothing in Princess Mononoke is good or evil. Hatred is what drives bad actions. The animal god’s hatred for human deforestation of their forest is justified as much as Lady Eboshi’s hatred for the animals that threaten her town and people.

You may be thinking otherwise. Of course nature is the victim in this film! Well you’re probably right. Miyazaki, like Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story), held a bit of disdain towards industrialisation and modernisation.  (After all, his intentions with Totoro were to encourage kids to venture outside.) But thankfully Miyazaki cleverly does not overtly favour nature in this film. Think about it. The apes want to eat the humans, the wolves want to chew their heads off, and the boars just want to wipe out Iron Town. Unlike singing animals in Disney films, these animals are more human. They debate, they argue, and they fight. Only those animals that do not speak are portrayed positively (think of the Forest Spirit and Ashitaka’s trusty elk steed Yakul).

It is only by portraying each side (nature vs. civilization) that Miyazaki can demonstrate that they can coexist. For human viewers, there would be no point in showing that we are completely evil; telling children that they are better off leaving nature alone is not what Miyazaki wants. Miyazaki wants people to care about nature and respect it. Similarly the film teaches us to respect and to try to understand everyone else; whether that is Lady Eboshi or Princess Mononoke.

2. Ashitaka and Jesus

Do I sound crazy? I kept thinking that Ashitaka’s role as the voice of peace and friendship was a definite allegory of Jesus, or at least reminiscent of a religious prophet. Well, here’s my reasoning in bullet points.

  • Ashitaka like Jesus has to leave his family in order to answer a higher being (tree spirit)
  • He has to resist hatred in the same way that Jesus had to resist temptation (infected arm)
  • He is a good Samaritan – he saves two men from Iron Town despite them being from what might be classed as the ‘enemy.’
    • He also saves two enemies from killing each other (Lady Eboshi & San)
  • He is saved by the nature spirit, in the same way that Jesus rises from the dead. What’s more, is that his wounds, like the crucifixion marks of Jesus do not disappear at this point.
  • He preaches love. He seeks to protect each and every living thing – everyone is equal no matter what. He like Jesus, sees the good in everyone and respects everyone.
  • Yet Ashitaka, like Jesus, suffers for everyone. He is shot by the people of Iron Town, he is bitten by the wolves, and attacked by Princess Mononoke.

Ashitaka also seems to know exactly what he is doing the whole film. The usual ‘hero’s journey’ monomyth described by Joseph Campbell in his excellent book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, is that the protagonist receives a ‘call to action’ which they initially refuse. Think of Rey in the latest Star Wars, not wanting to leave her home planet or of Frodo Baggins initially refusing the burden of the ring. In Princess Mononoke Ashitaka’s ‘call to action’ comes in the form of the boar which puts a curse on him which forces him to leave his town. However, unlike the usual ‘hero’s journey’ story, Ashitaka never doubts his path or hints that he will not try to locate the forest spirit. This decisiveness and purpose, to me , make him seem even more prophet-like. It is like he carries omnipotence (all knowledge) along with his benevolence (all loving character). Adding in his faith (in finding the forest spirit and spreading love and respect) makes him appear like a religious prophet or saint.

3. Don’t Underestimate Animation!

Isn’t the animation beautiful? I cannot imagine this film being shown in any other medium.

Miyazaki favoured animation because he could create whatever he wanted. There are no limits of reality those live-action confines directors to. Talking animals do exist in Babe, but to have a shimmering night walker in CGI will end up looking like a giant monster from Predator. Animation is the perfect medium for Princess Mononoke just as much as Princess Mononoke is the perfect story for animation. Without animation, the fantastical world would not work – especially given the technology in 1997.

In Princess Mononoke Miyazaki manages to blend hand drawn animation with computer generated animation seamlessly. The bulk of the film was hand-drawn but scenes with progression are smoothed over with computer generation. Think back to the scene where Ashitaka kills the boar god at the start of the film, and after it issues an omen to Ashitaka it decays before our eyes. This scene used technology to blend these hand drawings together smoothly and seamlessly. Similarly, this occurs right at the end of the film when greenery returns to the landscape as grass and plants grow. Unlike the technical leaps made by Pixar in animation, Miyazaki is a master of hand-drawn animation. Whilst Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle employed aspects of computer animation, Miyazaki returned to hand-drawn feature films with Ponyo. Therefore, think of him as one of the true auteurs of animation. He made an effort to review every frame of his films, and always maintained a hand in every aspect of film-making.

I really hope that after this film, you do not just think of animation as for kids! There are so many incredible animations that I will have to revisit in the future.

In context to Introduction to Japanese Film

Here’s to a quick few comparisons between Princess Mononoke and the two films we have looked at in the last two weeks.

How is Princess Mononoke like Like Ran?

  • Miyazaki uses high numbers of characters for blockbuster effect – just as Kurosawa used massive casts to emphasise the importance of key moments, Miyazaki drew a large boar army, large samurai armies, and masses of tree spirits for blockbuster effects.
  • Strong and important female characters! Lady Eboshi and San in Princess Mononoke, Lady Kaede in Ran.
  • Landscapes feature in both films to empower nature and the divine. (think of the tree spirit dominating over his landscape in comparison to the Gods in the sky in Ran).

How is Princess Mononoke Like Tokyo Story?

  • Miyazaki’s characters are well developed. As in Tokyo Story, we see their motives, their flaws, and their goodness.
  • Both films appear anti-modernisation. Tradition is the victim in Tokyo Story and nature is the victim in Princess Mononoke, both at the hands of modernisation and industrialisation.
What’s Next  for Week 4?


We will take a look at one of the most famous Japanese film icons. Godzilla! Remade and remade again, Godzilla spawned the great monster blockbuster film. This is for all you fans of Pacific Rim, Jurassic Park, or King Kong. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy entertainment at its most glorious (without all the crazy CGI effects).

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Wings of Desire (Germany) – Live as an Angel in Cold War Berlin

Wings of Desire Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Ever wonder what it’s like to be an Angel? In Wings of Desire you’re immortal, but confined to a half-reality. You can see and hear reality, but you cannot feel it. So all you can do is wander the world watching it change. Be an angel and watch Wings of Desire here (rent of buy on Amazon).

Image result for wings of desire

Why Watch Wings of Desire?
  • To see Berlin before the end of the Cold War, complete with Berlin Wall
  • Because every line is quotable – it’s a philosophical muser’s paradise
  • To live like an angel (although it’s not as heavenly as you might think)
  • Because Wim Wenders won Best Director for this film at Cannes and it has a beautiful soundtrack.
The Breakdown

An eye opens and cuts to a sweeping aerial shot of Berlin. The eye belongs to Damiel, a winged angel, and the aerial shot is his view of Berlin from the top of one of the cities highest monuments. The only people that see him perched at the top of the building are a few passing children who stare at him in awe.

Damiel and the other angels wander the city invisibly. They cannot talk to humans and they cannot be seen by humans, but they can hear all of their thoughts. Therefore, all they can do is wander the human world as observers.

The director (Wim Wenders) portrays their wandering with extreme melancholy. Firstly, he shows them trying to help people in vain, like a man who commits suicide. Secondly, he shows their lives in black and white whilst the Berliners they listen and watch are shown in vibrant colour. By creating their lives as a half life (without feeling, colour, and action) it makes us sympathize with their desire to be human.

Portrayal of Berlin

Wings of Desire was shot in the decade before the reunification of Germany. Therefore you will see the Berlin Wall and East Germany looming in the distance. The melancholic lives of the Angels are a reflection of the melancholy in Berlin, a city that still hasn’t recovered from the the Second World War.

There are reminders of the war placed throughout the film, from the actors dressed as Nazis and Jews on a nearby film set to the Berlin Wall. However, the most prominent example of the wars devastation on life in Berlin is the fate of Potsdamer Plaza.

A storytelling character aptly named Homer walks through the no-man’s land wasteland by the Berlin wall where Potsdamer Plaza used to be located. He reminisces about the Plaza when it was full of life. Before the war, it was full of friendly people and tradesmen. But later Nazi flags filled the square and the people became unfriendly. And now it’s just part of an empty wasteland that runs alongside the Berlin wall, with no life at all.

Conclusion

Wings of Desire is a beautifully melancholic film that meditates on the plight of humanity in the 20th century. In the political volatility today, this film is particularly relevant. It’s almost a warning of what could happen if we let love abandon us; we’d become Angels wandering the wastelands.

For another great German film of almost epic proportions I strongly recommend watching Fassbinder’s The Marriage of Maria Braun. It charts 20th century German history through the stoic Maria Braun, who is widowed as her husband fights in WW2.

If you love the melancholic philosophical musings I also recommend watching The Seventh Seal (rent or buy on Amazon), the story of a knight who is stalked by death.

 

 

 

3

Song of the Sea

Song of the Sea Film Difficulty Ranking: 1

Are you looking for a beautiful animation that carries an important, digestible message? Well you’ve come to the right place. Song of the Sea is Europe’s answer to Studio Ghibli and Pixar. It is a beautiful kids movie that adults will enjoy more because of it’s great storytelling. It is an ode to a disappearing culture, that only we can preserve.

Why Watch Song of the Sea?
  • If you like Miyazaki’s fantastic animated films
  • For an introduction to Irish Mythology
  • You like seals
  • So you can listen to some Irish!
  • For a commentary on Religion, Culture, and language – you didn’t think this was just a pretty little animation did you?
The Breakdown

Come away our human child, to the waters and the wild.

The opening lines of Song of the Sea set the scene for a mythology covered film. Up in a lighthouse on a craggy island rock a mum and her son paint the walls of a room. They are painting it for the new baby, and they paint the walls with scenes from Irish myths. As a present for his efforts, the mum gives her son a musical shell which carries the song of the sea…

There is so much to see and interpret from Song of the Sea that you could write a few essays on what how you make sense of it. One thing I noticed was the subtle contrasting portrayals of Christianity and Irish Culture. The contrast is shown through the lighthouse on a remote island by the coast, and in the grandma’s house in the city. Whilst the walls of the Lighthouse are painted with scenes from Irish mythology, the walls of grandma’s house are covered with pictures of family and images of Jesus and the Cross. In the lighthouse, the mother and son sing in Irish, whilst in the city, the grandmother listens to dull ballads.

Likewise the city is shown as oppressive and dirty compared to the freedom of the country. Whilst the cars of the city spew black smoke and almost run over the kids, there are no cars to ruin the picturesque island in the sea. In addition, all the rocks, trees, and fields in the country are beautifully patterned with spirals and circles (Irish patterns which appear a lot in the film), to contrast with the rigid straight lines of the city. The city’s inhabitants have forgotten about Ireland, and only the kids from the country can revitalise Irish culture by singing in Irish and embracing Irish culture.

Conclusion

In the same way as a Miyazaki film, Tomm Moore’s Song of the Sea stretches the creative boundaries of animation. However, Song of the Sea is not just a beautiful kids movie, it is an ode to Irish Culture. It holds the Irish language, song, and mythology. It shows us the importance of culture and our role in preserving it (see Embrace of the Serpent). So help out Irish culture and watch this film.

 

4

A Chinese Odyssey – Pure Cinematic Mayhem

King Bull from A Chinese Odyssey

A Chinese Odyssey Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

I haven’t read Journey to the West and I’m completely unfamiliar with the story line, so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this adaptation of the Chinese Classic. However, if you’re looking for pure cinematic mayhem, Chinese Odyssey Part One and Part Two are as good as you get.

From: Hong Kong, Asia
Watch: Trailer, Tubi, Vudu, Buy on Amazon
Next: Life of Brian, Star Wars, Kung Fu Hustle
Read The Full Review
5

The Lobster

Film Difficulty Ranking: 3


Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos creates a darkly funny dystopian like you have never seen before. With 1 part Napoleon Dynamite, 1 part Gattaca, and 2 parts art-house, The Lobster deserves its recognition at the Cannes Film Festival 2015.

Why watch The Lobster?
  • You have watched loads of dystopian films like The Hunger Games, Bladerunner, and The Matrix and want to see a refreshing turn in the genre.
  • For laugh out loud awkwardness throughout.
  • What’s your spirit animal? Now’s the time to think of it!
  • Look ma… no subtitles!

A long shot of a woman driving starts of this slow burner from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. We watch her driving, with the sound of windscreen wipers and the car engine being the only sounds we hear. She stops, gets out of the car and walks over to a deer or horse and shoots it dead. Bam – the title credits appear! Welcome to another art-house film!

The premise of this one is intriguingly unique. Being single is banned. All ‘loners’ are taken to this Hotel where they have 45 days to partner up with one of the other temporary residents there. If you fail – you are turned into an animal of your choice (Colin Farrell wants to be… a Lobster). Sound fun!? You’ll find out some of the other strange rules as you watch and you’ll also notice the hilarious awkwardness of everyone there. Single people can be hilarious!

To heighten the awkwardness director Lanthimos uses a few camera techniques. Firstly he uses still long-takes to make everything feel awkward. Just as in the editing in Androids Dream emphasises the absurdity of everything on screen with fixed long-takes The Lobster makes everything look darkly comedic by making you look at the dancing/singing/hotel masturbation for longer than you need to. Secondly, most obviously in the hunt, Lanthimos uses slow-motion to emphasise the absurdity of what the whole hunting event. The people look even more stupid running around with tranquilizers in suits in slow motion. What’s more is that this slow-motion is accompanied by orchestral music, making it all appear even more like a weird ritual or charade.

Lastly, the actors and actresses top off the awkwardness with their speech. Every line is uttered clearly and quickly, and is always followed by a brief silence before the person being talked to actually replies. Their conversations are stunted and artificial which makes their relationships look artificial as well.

For a dystopia like you’ve probably never seen before (unless you’ve seen previously reviewed sci-fi Androids Dream) I’d definitely recommend this one. Just don’t expect a fast-paced thriller – expect an artistic and innovative take on the genre.