Day 168: Princess Mononoke (1997)

Movie #110 – Princess Mononoke (1997) - 134 min, cert PG.

Set in ancient Japan at a time when much of the country is comprised of isolated villages run by feudal lords, and the smelting of iron was a new technology, one such village is attacked by a rampaging boar spirit. Prince Ashitaka (Billy Crudup) successfully defends the village against the evil spirit, but becomes contaminated by it in the process. The wise woman of the village tells him that the infection will kill him unless he is healed by the Spirit of Woods who lives far to the West. Ashitaka sets off to find this spirit, and becomes involved in a conflict between an iron working village, led by Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), and the animal spirits of the forest, led by San (Claire Danes), the Princess Mononoke of the title. The situation is further complicated when a rival village looks to take over the forge while Eboshi is distracted. Ashitaka must negotiate a peace between the various warring factions while finding a cure for his infection.

The movie deals with the price of progress, and how man is unable to develop technologically without there being a knock-on effect on the environment. There are no clear-cut good guys and bad guys in this movie. All the characters seem driven by honest intentions. Even Lady Eboshi, the biggest villain of the piece, is only trying to do her best to ensure a prosperous future for her people.

I established that I’m not the World’s greatest anime fan, when Spirited Away completely failed to move me, so I wasn’t expecting this to do much for me either. I certainly found this more entertaining than Spirited Away, and it held my attention pretty well. I wouldn’t say I’d been converted to the genre by any means, but perhaps I won’t approach subsequent films in this style with quite so much trepidation. I found the plot a little easier to follow, and the characters easier to empathise with.

Score – 5/10. Better than Spirited Away, but I’m still not an anime fan. Ten more movies have passed since I last updated my personal top ten, so it’s time to revisit it. The only movies to achieve full marks were Sin City and Die Hard, and I think they should both make the list, which now looks like this:

1.       The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

2.       Die Hard (1988)

3.       Pulp Fiction (1994)

4.       Forrest Gump (1994)

5.       The Sting (1973)

6.       The Green Mile (1999)

7.       Amelie (2001)

8.      Fight Club (1999)

9.       The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

10.   Sin City (2005)

Next up is a bank holiday classic – The Great Escape. My 9-year-old son quite fancies seeing this one, so I shall watch it with him.