It is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film. Written & directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The film stars voices of Yoji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yuko Tanaka with others.
It is set in the late Muromachi period of Japan & includes fantasy elements. The story follows a young Emishi Prince named Ashitaka & his involvement in a struggle between the Gods ( kami) of a forest & the humans who consume it’s resources. The film deals with themes of Shinto & environmentalism.
It was a critical & commercial blockbuster, becoming the highest grossing film in Japan of 1997. It also held Japan’s box office record for domestic films until 2001’s ‘Spirited Away’, another Miyazaki film.
For it’s 25th anniversary ,the film was screened at New York city’s Japan Society on July 22,2022.
in the annual lists of bestselling foreign language film on home video it ranks third in 2019, after Spirited Away (2001) & ‘My Neighbour Totoro ( 1988 ).
Miyazaki composed the preliminary ideas drawing sketches of a princess living in the woods with a beast. The concept had strong similarities to the fairy tale ‘Beauty & the Beast’.
To achieve the environmental depiction he visited the island of Yakushima in May 1995 along with four art directors. The art director Kazuo Oga went to Shirakami Sanchi mountains, which had already inspired some environmentalists in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
The actual period of Princess Mononoke depicts a ‘symbolic neverwhen clash of three proto-Japanese races ( the Jomon, Yamato & Emishi).
Miyazaki preferred ‘The Legend of Ashitaka’ but Suzuki favored ‘Princess Mononoke’, the former title is used in the first song on the soundtrack.
Rotten Tomatoes averages it at 8.1 / 10. ‘with it’s epic story & breathtaking visuals, Princess Mononoke is a landmark in the world of animation’.
James Cameron cited Princess Mononoke as an influence on his 2009 film Avatar. He acknowledged that it shares themes with Princess Mononoke including it’s clash between cultures & civilizations, & cited Princess Mononoke as an influence on the ecosystem of Pandora.
It is fresh & energetic. A must watch.
Asian Entertainment 