8.5/10
What makes Princess Mononoke out of nowhere is the set of perpetual contradictions it presents: Does survival mean that God must be killed? Is there a possibility of "living together" between man and nature and between man and man?
Ashitaka should not kill the boar god, but in order to protect the people from the evil god, he had to accept the fate of being cursed; Lady Eboshi should not slay the unicorn, but she did everything to make Tatara's The villagers were able to survive, and the "untouchables" who suffered from the exclusion and deprecation of the mainstream society were able to regain their dignity - none of the forests, samurai and Tatara occupied absolute justice, and each party had its own weaknesses and interests based on considerations. blasphemous act.
The profoundness of the film’s conception lies in its refusal to resort to victim narratives for cheap sensationalism—nature and gods also have their ugly and mundane sides, and human beings are not evil demons who dig up nature for the sake of profit. To survive, to conquer nature for a better life, has its own side of noble qualities such as heroic wisdom. Therefore, although the film is mainly narrated from the perspective of Ashitaka, and at the same time is titled "Princess Mononoke", but in fact the most complex character is Lady Eboshi (Phantom Princess), who is also good and evil - Tatara is her role in A utopia built by the wild and primitive Muromachi era for vulnerable groups (women, disabled, rot/leprosy patients), she is a courageous and intelligent activist, representing the nobility of human beings to establish their own civilization and hegemony in the era of wasteland reclamation However, for the forest, she is undoubtedly a heinous devil and an unrestrained vampire. She lacks the reverence and worship of the gods of nature, and regards human beings as the measure and the only purpose of all things - the complexity of this character Sexuality is undoubtedly closely related to the intellectuals' reflection on anthropocentrism and humanism.
As for Ashitaka, the real protagonist of the film, he can be said to be the incarnation of Hayao Miyazaki himself. The director used him to express his thoughts on the relationship between man and nature and his ambiguous attitude when dealing with this issue: Ashitaka is always on the go In a lonely battle, he refuses to succumb to the simple values of either side, believing almost foolishly that peaceful coexistence is possible; Helpless attitude - "to live" is not a kind of eulogy of life full of optimism; on the contrary, it is a kind of prayer full of lamentation and confusion - we can only live, we can only live , we have to wait patiently, use time to wash away all sins and curses, looking forward to the day when this eternal problem can be solved, or usher in an unsolvable end - by then, Tokyo has already been flooded , the annihilation of mankind is nothing but a fever that the earth suffers from.
"Princess Mononoke" is perhaps Miyazaki's darkest work, and its most frightening imagery is the evil spirit that seems to be infested by a hundred insects. Too much grievances make the pig god a vicious deity—a vicious deity that means the deprivation of self-will, the soul giving way to pure hatred and vengeance—like a caterpillar eaten away by parasites to the point of controlling the mind. With the help of this image and the scars it left on Ashitaka's arm, what Miyazaki hopes to express is still a kind of "live together" wish - let go of hatred and resentment between people and nature, and between people, and dispel them. The evil spirits in their hearts are waiting for some kind of reconciliation or destruction together. Another interesting image is the unicorn beast in charge of life and death - it is a symbol of life, and life itself is not a monotonically increasing curve, it contains both life and death - unicorn beast It is not some kind of Christ-like deity. It is neither sad nor happy, neither good nor evil. It is just like life, elusive and unpredictable. In its eyes, life and death are just different states of life itself.
If there is anything debatable about this film, first of all, according to Hayao Miyazaki's original intention, the film's name should be called "Athidaka War" - obviously, this is a more commercial than "Princess Mononoke". Considering the title, the name of the restaurant is much more appropriate; secondly, this film still has the signs of "the three armies are not moved, the food and grass go first" that often appears in the audio-visual language of Hayao Miyazaki's works - the soundtrack contributed by Joe Hisaishi in the film It is a majestic and pathetic orchestral music. It is impeccable as music itself. However, it is precisely because the music is too grand that the emotional ups and downs of the audience caused by the music are greater than the actual visual language and the emotional height of the film narrative.
View more about Princess Mononoke reviews
