The vast Guanzhong Plain is like a mystery. The thousand-year-old divine beast, the quiet deep forest, the impetuous human being, the mourning creature, the splendid blade, the dim night—so majestic yet so delicate, so dazzling yet so simple and clear, so sympathetic and merciful. And so ruthless. - This is "Princess Mononoke", an eternal mystery.
a city
The real plot of the film should also start from the city of Tatara.
Different from the tribes that are briefly described in the film or the imperial court that is not described, Miyazaki's Tatara is complex and real, with distinctive features. Men transport ore, grain and grass over mountains and mountains, and women smelt iron to guard the town. Of course it doesn't stop there. In order to compete with the downstream villages for water, it has to fight, and in order to arm and defend the castle, it has to trade iron ore with the imperial court - it seems to be a city, but in fact it is the embryonic form of a society. Look at the Tatara people again. Generally speaking, men are friendly, women are lively, harmonious and happy. The head of Eboshi is the image of a pioneer, with the determination to open up the forest day after day, the courage to conquer nature in the face of the wolf god, the kindness to take care of the sick, and the greed that occasionally flashes: she is the most human nature. Real expression. Because of this, the actions of deforestation, pioneering, and hunting cannot simply be criticized based on personal likes and dislikes, but more should be understood from the inevitable trend of social development, and thus, to repay the inevitable outcome. pity.
The story originated from Tatara, and finally Tatara. The Shi Huoya troops endured the violent impact of the wild boars and shot the mountain boar god; the townspeople ignored the attack from Tang Umbrella Company's back and marched forward into the depths of the forest; Eboshi shouted, "Look at this moment when humans kill the gods" and pulled the trigger of Shi Huoya , high-spirited - the personal heroism in the play has reached its climax, and outside the play, we, who are conscious of the inevitability of history, have already permeated the sense of tragic and solemnity.
two people
There are many people over there, but there are only two strange "people" here.
If the contradiction between man and nature is unavoidable, since he chooses to live, then the living must also carry the original sin against nature. Killing the evil god to protect the village is bound to offend nature, and the Ashitaka in the far east tribe cannot escape this common paradox. The result is already predetermined. Ashitaka cuts off her hair bun, hides her face, bears the curse/original sin, and embarks on a path to release the curse/redemption. The burden of thinking has always plagued him. Whether it was rescuing the two wounded in the Kirin Forest or intervening in the fight between San and Eboshi in Tatara City, although they have always spared no effort to help, they have always been strangely alienated from both sides; , but it was not until he was deeply involved in it that he could sort out the entanglement of the facts.
And Princess San, she has the agility of a cheetah and the grace of a white wolf, walking in the forest with lightness like a tree spirit, and the tragic and solemn of a pig herd in Tatara alone in the dark night. She is a synthesis of the characteristics of the entire forest. Born in an era when the forest was in a desperate situation, she had no choice but to raise the spear in her hand. The thing is, she's actually human...
The horizontal identity of the individual, the vertical direction of the fate of the population, and the hesitation at the crossroads crisscross. The existence of Princess San itself is the climax of the contradiction between man and nature.
three knots
So, Ashitaka, San, Eboshi, with the forces behind each, entangled into three dead ends.
People have to survive. Deforestation, pioneering, hunting, this is the "justice" of human beings. Forest to survive. Counterattack, assassination, revenge, this is the "justice" of the forest. The confrontation between two justices is war.
- Such a war is inevitable. Whether it's Eboshi's reclamation of the forest or Jiko's quest for longevity, it's essentially a longing for life. Why aren't the mountain beasts? Between life and death, there is no room for evasion and compromise. When San represents nature and Eboshi symbolizes socialized human beings, the contradiction becomes more and more stark. Such contradictions can never be eliminated by criticizing human greed and arrogance and talking about a few slogans for the harmonious development of man and nature - Eboshi is by no means a negative image, the object of the former criticism is wrong; and the nature of the latter It is technical practice, not the principle shown in the film, not to mention that it is only a slogan at the practical level. - Such a war will never end. The struggle based on the right to existence must be the most brutal and thorough, whether it is for human society or nature. Eboshi and San confronted for many years, the newly married man in Tatara city lost his life under the claws of the wolf god, and the wild boars charged tragically even knowing they would die... Until the final outcome - it seems that the grass and trees are revived, the barren mountains are green, everything Back to the original point, but in fact, the unicorn beast has disappeared, the pig herd has disappeared, and the core of nature - wildness and vitality, has withered away. All that is left is the domesticated nature.
It is not only people and beasts who are immortal, but also the unicorn god, the magical creature with the human face and the body of a stag antelope. The unicorn in the film is more than just an incarnation of nature. It's the focal point of conflict - Eboshi wants to kill the god, San wants to protect. It is also a reconciliation of contradictions - a slight sniff from the tip of the nose is the loss of life, as far as the eyes can see the branches and leaves are blooming, and the grass and trees grow and wither between the four feet on the ground. However, it is a man in the game. Even though a touch of the mouth can heal the pain, it cannot eliminate the deep hatred of the mountain master above the curse, and the sharp confrontation between man and nature under the curse. When Eboshi shot its head off—the horned monster's torso was over-inflated, the turbid liquid filled the mountains and the fields, and there was no grass anywhere—it looked like a human being similarly over-inflated for survival.
"Forest and people are fighting わずにすむ道はないのか?" Is there really no way to coexist?
This is the question of the mediator Ashitaka. It is impossible to resolve the feud between Eboshi and San, and the answer to the question is also the key to unlocking the curse that Ashitaka bears. Here, Ashitaka's fate line, the main line of contradiction with man and nature, is once again tied into a dead knot. However, answering such questions is beyond the capabilities of human beings after all. Or, this is indeed an unsolved problem. Just like Ashitaka running between people and mountain beasts, but after all, he can't save the ending of Kirin beast being killed. All he could practice was the answer that wasn't the answer. Live simply.
To be honest, what left the deepest impression on me in the whole film was not Ashitaka's soft sound of "そなたは...美しい...." (you are so beautiful) when he was facing the blade, it wasn't San on the island in the forest. When he chewed the jerky and fed it to him, the crystal tear from the corner of his eyes was not because Eboshi aimed at the unicorn beast with a stone fire arrow, and his face was bright; it was the journey of the male protagonist who traveled through the vast grasslands alone; It was the back figure who left Jiko, got on the wildebeest, and walked towards the misty sunlight. Whenever I see this, I can't help but let out a sigh. Just like Hisaishi's background music ( The Legend of Ashitaka Theme【End Credit】 ), it is full of melancholy and decisiveness. I guess Ashitaka vaguely felt the final semi-tragic ending from the very beginning. If he doesn't go on like this, he has the almost melancholy character under his kindness.
From this point of view, I think Ashitaka is closer to real modern people than Tatara's Eboshi and others, or closer to Hayao Miyazaki himself - who also bears the "original sin" of nature, but is caught between two sides of justice Between the cliffs, with guilt, he embarked on this road of quest that he knew was doomed to have no answer.
The consolation is that, like Ashitaka, we don't have to worry about finding the right way. There is only one road in front of you, to live simply in the body, and to walk this eternal road forever in the mind. As for whether it is a single leaf obstructing one's eyes and forgetting to worry, or the suffering of not getting what one wants, it is unknown.
above.
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