By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * * * )
All hail Princess Mononoke. The scope of this epic Japanese animated feature is enough to confound almost any expectation you might have of it.
If you think the voice-dubs by that Hollywood cast - added after it was a huge hit in its
homeland - might have turned it into something Disney-digestible, you're wrong. And if its nationality makes you think it might either be Pokemon-cute or just another overwrought visual headbanger off the Manga production line, then you're also missing out.
It is set in a period during which medieval Japanese history meets mythology, comes with a moral complexity and an ecological theme, and takes its own good time in tying up its sprawl of a story.
And a warning: it is a bit gruesome for younger folk, although there is something strangely appealing in seeing the otherwise cuddly and wide-eyed Prince Akatashi using his archery skills to whip off an arm or a head from the occasional samurai baddie.
But visually, Princess Mononoke relies more on its other-worldly beauty than its occasional brutality. And it has a very big story - of Tolkienesque dimensions - to go with it.
It follows Akatashi's quest - he must leave his village to investigate an apparent imbalance in nature after an attack by a giant demon boar-god which leaves him scarred and possibly doomed.
In the west he finds a stand-off between an iron-foundry town headed by the good Lady Eboshi (Driver), and the local animal-gods of a threatened ancient forest. They include the giant wolf Moro (Anderson), which has adopted a human child known as Princess Mononoke (Danes).
Add to that a scheming monk (Thornton) on a mission from the emperor, a shape-shifting creature that embodies the spirit of the forest, a romance between the prince and princess that is anything but fairytale, all captured against the richly rendered animation and the result is not only eye-popping but gripping.
Yes, it's a bit long at two-hours plus. But it still makes every other animated feature of recent memory look like an after-school cartoon by comparison.
Cast: The voices of Billy Crudup, Clare Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson
Director: Miyazaki Hayao
Rating: PG (violence)
Running time: 135 mins
Screening: Lido
By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * * * )
All hail Princess Mononoke. The scope of this epic Japanese animated feature is enough to confound almost any expectation you might have of it.
If you think the voice-dubs by that Hollywood cast - added after it was a huge hit in its
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.