This was called the Star Wars of Anime. I disagree with that statement. It doesn’t have bad acting or bad writing. It is also set in the Japan of the past. But I agree that this is an action packed anime movie.
The Movie is basically about 2 individuals. The main male character is called Prince Ashiitaki. He is infected/cursed by a demon, sent out of his hometown and is going to die soon. The other is a female called San. She was raised by wolves. She herself believes she is a wolf and does not identify with humans at all. In fact she hates humans with a passion that is stronger than the wolves she hangs with.
There are also 2 more parties, the humans and the gods. The humans are also in conflict with each other. In this case the humans are fighting over iron. The humans fight with crude muskets, swords, and bows. People do get hurt/killed in this movie. One of the human groups is run by a strong woman named Lady Eboshi. This is the main human settlement that you get to know in the film and the settlement is visited several times in the film. They have made claim to the mountains nearby and have chosen to mine iron. What is unique about this settlement is it is dominated by strong females but does have a population of males who play the provider role for the town.
The gods in the movie are very much like the gods of mythology. Each has their own personality and purpose. And like in some mythical tales these gods can be hurt, even killed. It just takes a lot to kill a god.
The movie does have a fair amount of action that really keeps your attention. Like most of Miyazaki’s other films, the pacing is very well done and you do not have too much story telling nor too much action at any one point in the story. It is balanced beautifully.
A cool thing about the whole plot is it is not immediately revealed to you but rather revealed to you in layers. And there are plenty of layers in this movie. But I’m not going to spoil that for you. One theme that is found in a lot of Miyazaki’s works is the idea that we need to preserve nature. This theme is present in a big way.
The writing certainly is not the best of Miyazaki’s works. The writing takes a step back to allow both the action and physical dialogue to play a greater role in this film, and I am pleased with the choice to do that. This is because a lot of the character building is told by the action of those characters. I personally find this to be more pleasurable than the vocal/narrated character building. And it is hard to pull off.
Another element in so many of Miyazaki’s films is the idea that there is no good or bad. The world is not black and white but rather various shades of grey. Our main characters have their own ambitions and beliefs. These sometimes conflict with what others believe in and there the conflict in the story is created. You as the viewer are forced to take into account the characters traits and label the actions as good or bad, not necessarily labeling the character as good or bad.
Who is this for? This is more for older children because of the violence. Some soldiers are decapitated, others become armless, and there is some blood. So I have a hard time calling this a children’s movie because of that, it is written more for adults than children.
Additional material The version I have just came with one disk so extras are minimal. There is a 5 minute featurette about the movie including some of the voiceovers. It isn’t all that well done. There is also a simple trailer of the movie itself.
The players Director: Hayao Miyazaki Screenplay and original story: Hayao Miyazaki Music: Joe Hisaishi
Featured voices: Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Billy Bob Thornton.
Rating PG-13
Duration 2:13:30
”It’s about life, love, honesty, sorrow, joy; it’s about being alive.” (quote from the featurette.)
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