Studio Ghibli movies- The review and discussion thread
Jul 25, 2023 20:28:36 GMT
whiskeybrewer and Kestrel like this
Post by tuigirl on Jul 25, 2023 20:28:36 GMT
Finished Princess Mononoke.
It is how I remembered it- it looks beautiful and the creatures and the spirit world are wonderfully realized.
The movie has a powerful message (environmentalism, love conquers all and most important of all, do not try to kill a god!).
Human greed is nearly unstoppable, even gods might have to bow down to it and wither and die, and if they do, everything else, including the foolish humans, will be destroyed.
In the end, it is human greed that consumes all, including the human minds that created it, and all that is left is death and destruction.
Only a tiny flicker of kindness and hope stands in its way.
As often with these movies, we end with a sign of hope, with the forest spirits returning.
While this movies is very beautiful and pulls all the heartstrings and again made me cry, I also remembered how violent and brutal and visceral it is.
This is NO kids movie.
There is blood and gore and dismemberment, and demonic possession and gruesome monsters and violent death and it is in part very explicit and horrific.
For my tastes, it goes a bit far, and if I had watched this in my youth, I might even have gotten nightmares from it!
Non the less, the movie is a masterpiece in storytelling, and the art is breathtaking.
I again am fascinated by the two heroes, who are polar opposites- the male exile, who is kind and tries to conquer his hate and tries to show love and understanding for even the most dangerous creatures and humans.
And the female daughter of the wolves, who is all rage and hate and about revenge.
And the villains- the female leader of Iron Town, who actually is not that evil, after all, but is just trying to protect her people who consist of former slaves, prostitutes and lepers, who are utterly loyal to her.
And the mischievous greedy monk, who would slay a god to become unbelievably rich and famous (and who, a lot of the time, brings some comic relief, which is a stark contrast to his evil deeds!).
The character studies are pretty deep and border on philosophical.