Princess Mononoke (1997)

20101207:
Animation-wise this movie is amazing. The movie is also action-packed which is a bonus.

Though as a movie that brings up a moral issue, it leaves itself quite open-ended. I'm not entirely convinced with the dialogue exchanged at the end that the rebuilt town will be a better one in the sense of cooperating with nature. And neither does Princess Mononoke forgive humans.

I guess I feel uneasy with the protagonist's somewhat pacifist style. He intervenes and tells the two factions to stop fighting as it brings about hatred, but that really isn't dealing with the problem. He splits them up and no one hears what he's saying.

Perhaps what I want to say is that while the movie certainly leans towards protecting nature, I'd personally like it to lean more towards nature's side. But the movie sets itself up to really have no bad guys. I think that confuses me.

Watching the featurette, I don't remember who, but the person made the above observation: that there is no bad guy, everybody is human.

The only other bonus material was the theatrical trailer.

Overall, it is a great movie, I'd think I'd have to watch it a second time to see it from a new point of view. I'd watch it next time with Japansese vocals.

Watched 20101207 (DVD 2730 from Eisenhower Library) (English audio, English subtitles)
Princess Mononoke (1997) Hayao Miyazaki. 134 min.
also known as Mononoke-hime (original title)

Relevant Links:
Princess Mononoke (IMDb.com)
Princess Mononoke (Wikipedia.org)

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