Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke is a story about a boy named Ashi-Taka and a girl named San. Ashi-Taka was one of the few remaining of the Mishi, a tribe of people who lived deep in the forests of their country, for they were banished from society a long time ago. One day, while Ashi-Taka is wandering around in his village, he encounters a demond that tries to terrorize his village. Coming to the rescue, Ashi-Taka successfully distracts the bore-demon, and kills it. However, during the battle, Ashi-Taka accidentally touches the demon and is infected by its poison; the very poison that turned the bore into a demon. As this poison begins to spread slowly through his body, he realizes that he must do something soon before it takes over his entire body. He decides to leave the village and go in search of a way to relieve his illness. Ashi-Taka is fighting time, but is able to meet a lot of new characters along his journey. One of these people being a young girl by the name of Princess Mononoke, San. In the forest, Ashi-Taka meets her for the first time. However, being brought up by wild wolves, Princess Mononoke learns to hate humans because they destroy the forest which she calls her home. Iron Town is the place primarily responsible for this destruction of the forest, due to its efforts to mine enough iron in order for the Town's survival. After meeting Princess Mononoke, Ashi-Taka goes there to speak with the head of the town, Lady Iboshi. There, she tells him her side of the story; how Princess Mononoke tries to keep her away from the forest by raiding iron shipments and other supplies. She then asks Ashi-Taka to help her destroy Princess Mononoke and a superior being called the forest spirit, a symbolic figure that roams at responsible for bringing the forest life. Ashi-Taka refuses, as he knows better than to do such a senseless thing. There is almost no hope of bringing these people together. We have San, who is totally against Lady Iboshi depleting the forests for profit, while the iron mines that dig deep into the forest's roots are essential for the city's economy. It is then Ashi-Taka's position to try and keep peace between these two perspectives. Having peaceful connections with both Lady Iboshi and San, Ashi-Taka uses different methods to try and convince the two sides that we are all a part of nature and are all neccesary for the earth's existence. Wedged in the middle of a war amongst evil and sinister people, Ashi-Taka remains steadfast and true, as he does not let his anger or greed molest him; keeping in check the poison in his body that continues to spread throughtout his body. He gives people hope and a vision that can finally be admired in the end after a nearly-trecherous experience.
The maker of this movie is a guy by the name of Hayao Miyazaki. He's this really old Japanese guy that lies around drawing these really good drawings. His style is very distinct, so people are able recognize his works immediately. Although many of his characters are strange and some take the form of animals, almost all of his movies have been visual masterpieces.
Just recently he has come out with a new movie called "Spirited Away." It's about this little girl whose imagination takes the best of her; she is transported to another dimension. The movie parallels "Alice in Wonderland" and is made of many different characters and other strange creatures. One of the underlining themes of the movie is how beauty can be found in the heart, not only the appearance, of individuals. In some characters there is a dynamic contrast between good and evil; yet in many more the truth of certain characters is not realized until later; when one discovers the real heart of characters. The whole movie is based on the fact that anything can happen; nothing can be taken for granted; things are not always what they seem. Such is the imagination of a little girl.
