Princess Mononoke

When I first saw it, Princess Mononoke had been the first Miyazaki film I have seen. It was recommended by a friend for whom the movie is one of his favorites. For this friend, who is a forestry/environmental economics major now, Princess Mononoke embodied everything that he personally believed, as the unity between humans and nature and their subsequent destructions are concepts that personally interested him. I am sure that the great animation by Studio Ghibili did much to add to his enjoyment of the film; but still the film mainly appealed to him on a specific ideological basis. For me, who never had any experience with Japanese anime before this point (I admit I looked down upon the genre for much of the same reasons that everyone did), it was a revelation as any that I have had. Essentially, what I had felt was that I had never seen a movie quite like Princess Mononoke. But the feeling did not just echo that of a small discovery, but that of a eureka. It was apparent almost from the beginning that Mononoke did not follow a traditional narrative, something which intrigued me and, given the beauty of animation, kept me in my seat. I think if the same narrative was transposed upon a live-action film or any other film of a lesser workmanship, I would have stopped soon after Ashitaka killed the two men in the fields, but Miyazaki kept me watching. As the film went on, the narrative grew even more incredulous, and the plot grew even more unconventional; and I, unexpectedly, enjoyed even more of the film as the plot widened. There have been many ecological films made, but to find any of them not directly referring to the modern environment is a monumental task. Miyazaki teaches his audience the lesson of environmental disaster using a tale of ancient forest gods and human encroachment- together they create a fresh new perspective on our contemporary problem. I would never have imagined such a storyline would be feasible and successful, but somehow the director managed to connect together the dynamic elements of parable, epic, action film and love story to make such an acclaimed film.