n Japan's misty past, animal gods prowl the forests even as man begins laying the foundations of a more modern world with inventions like large-scale iron mining and gunpowder. Prince Ashitaka (Crudup) begins an epic journey when a wounded boar god, turned into a demon by pain and rage, attacks his village. Ashitaka slays the demon, but is infected by its curse. His right arm bears the demon's mark, and the village oracle warns that the scar will grow until it kills him. Both to protect the village from the evil growing within him, and to search for a cure, Ashitaka leaves his home and follows the demon's trail to the west.
There he discovers a bitter struggle between human civilization and the clannish society of the animals and their gods. He meets Lady Eboshi (Driver), who is obliterating the forests to mine iron for her forges, and Jigo (Thornton), a monk who is more than he seems. On the other side, he encounters the wolf goddess Moro (Anderson) and Princess Mononoke (Danes), Moro's adopted human daughter, who fights ruthlessly to protect the forests. Factions on both sides work at cross purposes. Schemes develop within schemes, and pride, dreams, greed and ambition drive all the players to the brink of utter destruction.
Ashitaka's honorable actions earn him the respect of both sides, placing him at dead center of the conflict. Knowing he is doomed, he risks everything to halt the growing tide of hatred. But it may be too powerful, even for the demonic strength growing within him. As the pressure grows, Ashitaka draws on that power even as it threatens to overwhelm him. Can Ashitaka's love for the princess lift his curse? And when man and nature meet in an apocalyptic final battle, can anyone survive?
Mature work from animation legend
Let's make this clear up front: Princess Mononoke is a masterpiece. The synopsis above can't begin to do justice to Miyazaki's complex, beautiful fable of love, brutality, honor and hope. As just one example of many, Miyazaki refuses to take the easy way out and make Eboshi the villain, laying waste to the forest to satisfy her rapacious greed. Instead, her ruthlessness is at the service of a utopian social vision, and the animal gods are hardly innocent victims. That kind of complexity runs throughout the film. No character is purely good or evil, and there are no easy answers. Viewers expecting a simple fantasy for the kids will be very surprised. The film earned its PG-13 rating, and it deals with complex themes with all the sophistication of any live action film.
Princess Mononoke was a box-office supernova in Japan, and Miramax threw major talent at the English version. Still, a big reason to get this DVD edition is the original Japanese language track. Buena Vista didn't originally plan to include this--it took a massive fan petition to get them to delay the release and add it--but they deserve kudos for listening. It was worth the wait, even for viewers who prefer dubbing.
Anime purists may look down their noses, but this is about as good as dubbing gets. Some of the actors are better than others, of course. Crudup and Driver stand out, but Billy Bob Thornton was a questionable choice, and Danes is simply not up to the material. But the most interesting thing about the English version is Neil Gaiman's script. Since the DVD includes literally-translated subtitles for the Japanese track in addition to Gaiman's version, viewers can compare them. Watching the film in English with the translated Japanese subtitles is very instructive. Gaiman takes occasional liberties; he walks a fine line between fleshing out things that remain murky in the Japanese version and dumbing down the story. He never offends the material, though, and his phrasings sometimes improve on the original.
