Reviewing Hayao Miyazaki's Film Princess Mononoke

More Than a Cartoon

The first thing to stand out after completion of Princess Mononoke is its stark complexity in comparison to many American animation films. Often times, American audiences are treated to simple tales with an inherently good person who is at odds with a bad person, or there is a set of good people who set out on a quest to find something. However, with Princess Mononoke, the one of the only things that can compare it to an American animation film is the talking characters. Other than that, this is a complex film set in medieval Japan that deals with characters neither on the right or wrong, environmentalism and surprisingly, above all, feminism.

As mentioned above, the film is set in medieval Japan, but upon viewing this film, the setting/time period really doesn’t stand out as it is negated by much of the film’s fantastical aspects, thus making the film seem like it could be set in Japan at any time point. The fact that there are guns doesn’t really help one truly pin down a time period as the fantastical elements leads to a suspension of disbelief, signifying more of a timeless feel in some period of pre-modern Japan on the verge of industrialization. With this in mind, it was hard to watch this as a piece of historical fiction in the same way one would watch Grave of Fireflies. Instead it just felt more like a regular Studio Ghibli film, one focused on story, character, and themes.

The most prominent theme dealt with in the movie was the concept of environmentalism. Miyazaki is very much interested in this idea of what role a human has in preserving the environment, but also how a human being must be aware of their need for nature. The ending of the film gives no real answer as the humans more or less destroy nature literally by killing the Spirit of the Forest, but also metaphorically through the death of Okkoto and Miwa. However, they are willing to rebuild Iron Town to be something more susceptible to persevering nature at the behest of Ashitaka. The film hints at an optimistic ending that they are willing to strive hand-in-hand with nature as the audience sees Jigo give up on his quest to kill the Spirit of the Forest, due to the destruction he caused. However, there is still the lasting image that humans did call such a tremendous amount of destruction to the earth. The film ultimately examines the concept of mankind’s capability and predisposition for destruction of nature, but that there is hope through people like Ashitaka and to an extent San, who understand that nature is a gift and privilege that needs to be utilized, but in a correct and persevering manner. Despite the pre-industrialization period, the film still holds true in Miyazaki giving a warning to modern day Japan and the world to watch and care for the world and its environment, thus cementing this as a film of timeless environmentalism.

The most complex and engaging issue in the film is the role of women. While the film starts out with the quest of a young man to free his body of a demon’s curse, the film’s main focus is truly upon the women of young and old in the film. From the very beginning, a woman gives Ashitaka the advice he needs to potentially save himself. Without the guide of a woman, Ashitaka very well could have died, thus citing the end of the film. From there, Ashitaka only comes across more powerful and dominating women, sometimes not in a human form. Without a doubt, the most dominating and looming figure in the film is Lady Eboshi, the cold and hard ruler of Iron Town who bows to no one, not even the emperor. At first, Lady Eboshi could be viewed as the film’s main antagonist as she aims to kill San and her wolf friends. It’s hard to not argue that she is the main antagonist given her direct action of bringing down the Spirit of the Forest, however, her desire for doing this is admirable. The audience is given an image of Lady Eboshi as a force to be reckoned with. She runs an entire village, as a woman, in medieval Japan, thus truly showcasing her strength as Japan would have been a male-dominated society at this given point in time. However, she has a big hand in destroying the nature as her town operates on mining iron. This definitely could strike a bad chord in some people’s heart as in “oh of course the very strong woman in the film is evil”, but to think this would be an oversimplification of Lady Eboshi. She has become a proto-tycoon of industry as a means to an end, a means to supporting the marginalized women in society as well as lepers. She is not aiming to destroy the environment or the Spirit of the Forest for her own personal gain, but rather to save the lepers and ex-prostitutes. Lady Eboshi alone makes this film stand out against any American animated film as she is a character of utmost complexities. It can be hard for the audience to sympathize with her as she does take the head off of nature, quite literally, but it is a cause that can be seen as the greater good, to fight for the oppressed and marginalized. It should also be noted that the one character that does pose a true threat to her, is a measly old man in the character of Jigo, who is just using her as a way to secure the head of Spirit of the Forest for the emperor. However, it is (hypothetically speaking) hard to say if the emperor would have ever seen that head had things turned out differently. Lady Eboshi would not have been easy to take the head from. The manipulation of Jigo immediately turns the onus of antagonism to him by the end of the film, and makes Lady Eboshi a complex main character with socially conscious end goals, similar to Wang Anshi, who would have been a hundred years before or so.

The other woman character that stands out is the wolf goddess, Moro, who is the strongest animal in the film that rules over 2 male wolves and shows wisdom over the boorish, war-ready boar Okkoto. Then there is San, who opts for nature over human civilization at the end, but still offers a strong portrait of a young woman, not the typical swooning, in-need-of-a-man woman found in American film. She is strong and arguably, the most independent woman in the film. Then there is the entire women’ population of Iron Town (that were once prostitutes) that operates the town's iron obtaining system, while the men are often cannon fodder for Lady Eboshi. Together, all these women point to this film being a predominantly women-centric, feminist piece of film.

It is unlikely that this is an accurate representation of Japan at the time, but given its release date of 1997, this film is highly progressive and definitely certified the fact that Japanese anime is not a genre to be treated as just cartoons. It is a genre with serious cinematic heft and potency. This is a film that might not be best utilized as a tool to accurately portray the Japanese medieval world due to it’s timeless aspect in both senses of the word. It does not seem have to a distinct time period besides a long time ago, but the themes of the film will stand the test of the time. As a film, Princess Mononoke delivers in providing a unique cast of complex characters that examine themes of environmentalism and feminism, which showcase that anime is a crucial aspect to current day Japanese culture and should not be treated as just mere cartoons.