Princess Mononoke Film Review
Princess Mononoke is a Japanese film written by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli in 1997. It is a film that takes place in the Muromachi era of Japan and is about the balance between humans and nature. It revolves around the character Ashitaka, who was initially the heir to the throne in his town, but was banished when a demonic boar bites his arm and infects him. As a result, he goes on a journey to find a cure, but instead comes upon a town led by the character Lady Eboshi. He discovers it is being attacked by a girl, who he had seen prior in passing, who lives amongst the wolves in the forest. She is often referred to as the wolf girl, but is known as Princess Mononoke and goes by San. He later realizes she attacks the town because Lady Eboshi is wrecking havoc upon the forest, stripping it for resources to industrialize her town. As he uncovers more about the conflict between the town and the forest, he makes it his mission to become a voice of reason and try to find peace between the two. Some of the major key themes of this film are about nature, humanity, industrialization, peace, and balance.
The way American made films will portray nature varies from genre to medium. Sometimes there is an effort to capture its great beauty and serenity, often gliding above it in the sky like a bird. Other times it is used to depict the end of the world, using nature to overturn the planet and mark the end of humanity. In animated films these days, there are efforts from companies like Pixar to capture nature in intense 3D realism, although animals are often anthropomorphized to appear friendlier or cute. There have been an endless number of ways nature has been depicted in American film through the ages. In this film, nature is very much presented with life. It has a spiritual presence, using various creatures or gods to dictate different aspects of the forest, which is the setting for the majority of the movie. The movie also highlights nature in a very beautiful way, with a sense of realism that is not always familiar to 2D animation in America. Animals are very true, if not exaggerated, depictions of their most natural form.
Shintoism plays a major role in this film. It is a polytheistic belief system that focuses on worshiping various elements of nature, like the sun, thunder, and mountains, as a source of communication from the gods. The film highlights this belief system because there is a constant emphasis on the role of the gods on the forest. Lady Eboshi, Ashitaka, and Princess Mononoke, otherwise known as San, were all united through the significance of the forest spirit, which to kill would be the equivalent of killing a god. While the Princess was trying to protect the god and the creatures of the forest, Lady Eboshi desired to kill it as to stop the forest from getting in the way of the industrialization of her town and protecting her people. Ashitaka attempted to protect the god alongside San, but focused on trying to voice reason to Lady Eboshi instead of killing her like San tried to.
As San is called Princess Mononoke, the word Mononoke means vengeful spirit. San has this moniker because her character plays a parallel to the character of Lady Eboshi. They are two characters who are narrow minded in their fight for their tribe. Lady Eboshi fights for the women she took out of the brothels, the men she picked off the streets, the people she considers her responsibility to save. She gives them food and shelter, and she fights to help them defend themselves and become stronger. She fights against San and her wolf pack from preventing the growth of her town. San, on the other hand, fights for the forest, the creatures within it, and the animal kingdom she believes she is a part of. However, she fights against the town with the motive of vengeance and justice. She specifically targets Lady Eboshi, who is wrecking havoc on the forest. Where Lady Eboshi takes from the forest with no concern for the impact of her actions, San and her wolf pack attack the town to make them pay and put a stop to it as a response.
These two characters are very different from classic western heroes/heroines and villains, who are often depicted as either good or evil and nothing in-between. Of course, there are many exceptions, but traditionally the viewer follows a hero, who is the representation of morality, taking down a clear cut villain who wants to harm the hero or society in some way. However, San and Lady Eboshi are neither hero nor villain and are actually both prime examples of warrior girls. They don’t give up without a fight. They fight for those who cannot and give a voice to those who cannot be heard, like the crippled people of the town or the smaller creatures of the forest. They are females who are not afraid to speak up for what they believe is right, and this is prevalent throughout the movie because they end up attacking each other as a result of it.
An environmental heroine from contemporary western culture that is similar to Princess Mononoke is Moana. Although the story is based in Polynesian culture and myths, she too, is a warrior princess. She is the future chief of her village and she goes on a journey to restore the heart of the ocean goddess Te Fiti when her island is struck with a blight. Her father had forbid her from leaving the island as the ocean had become unsafe, but Moana was adamant and believed the answer to restoring the island was beyond the reefs. Her grandmother gives her the heart of Te Fiti on her death bed and tells her she must find Maui, the demigod who had taken the heart, and make him return it. She is a warrior because despite all who had told her it was unsafe, she believes her greater purpose is restoring her island and saving her people. Despite the obstacles she faces in trying to restore the heart of Te Fiti, she never gives up. She stays true to her mission, and she fights for what she feels is the greater good, risking her own life in the process.
The film had come out with two trailers, one for its release in Japan and one for its release in America. In the Japanese trailer of the film, the portrayal is true to the deeper complexities of the movie. It highlights Ashitaka’s push for peace between the forest and the humans. In regard to San, it highlight’s her status as neither human nor animal. It also highlights the demon of hatred that exists within her as well as Lady Eboshi. In the American trailer, the movie is subjected to a highly stripped back and straight forward narrative. It illustrates a clear villain, Lady Eboshi, as trying to destroy the world in a pursuit for wealth. San, is portrayed as the hero who must come forth to save the world, with the help of the protagonist Ashitaka. Her background of being raised amongst the wolves makes her the only candidate to take the role and stop Lady Eboshi. I believe reasons like this American trailer are exactly why Hayao Miyazaki refused to have his films be streamed. There is an immense complexity that exists within his films that he did not want diminished. To stream them implies a level of speed and accessibility to anyone at any time. I think he wanted his films to be watched with purpose and with an interest in understanding the deeper message. There is more of a decision process when the film is purchased to be watched.
Princess Mononoke is a film that feels ahead of its time when watched in the context of today’s climate. Although there are some flaws in the character development of the film, it inspires the viewers thinking about the role of humans in connection to nature. Princess Mononoke becomes an important character in thinking about that connection. I hope more environmental heroines like her will arise in the media in the future. If audiences begin to demand her kind of representation, media will follow. Although I often find the process slow, I do believe changes in media do arise the more people speak out about it. There have been pushes for more racially diverse characters, greater female representation, inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community, and so on. As these topics keep getting more media coverage, pop culture representation will follow. The key is that society never tops pushing for it.
