This is one strange film.

Long-time readers will remember that after buying Spirited Away on
Ian Hamet‘s recommendation I was so
impressed that I went out and got a number of other Miyazaki movies. This
is the last of the set so far.

And it is one strange film.

First, some things that stand out. The animation is stunning; I’m not
sure I’ve ever seen it equaled, even in Miyazaki’s other movies. There
are some shots that reminded my friend and I of Kurosawa’s movies. Second,
this movie is definitely not for kids. Some of this is simply the
language, which is a little more colorful than usual; there’s some (very
mild) profanity, and frequent references to certain of the characters as
being (reformed) brothel girls. On the one hand my kids have certainly
heard worse; on the other hand, I’d rather not explain brothel girls to
them.

But the language is more a reflection that the English adaptation wasn’t
done by Disney. The thing that really makes it kid-unfriendly is the
blood and gore–as Ian Hamet described it to me some time ago, “The first
decapitation surprised me.” There’s lots of blood, lots of arms lopped
off (along with the occasional head), and some really horrific monsters,
all exquisitely animated.

None of this makes it a bad movie, just a movie intended for grown-ups.
And it isn’t this that gives the movie its strangeness either–it’s just
out of character for Miyazaki.

No, what makes this movie strange is the plot and the characters.

At first, things seem to make sense–at least, if you think about it you
can come up with explanations that make things fit. But ultimately, too
much is unexplained. Why are samurais attacking Iron Town? And why does
our hero care? Princess Mononoke was raised by wolves–but if she’s a
princess, who are her parents? What’s she the princess of? And in fact
the name “Princess Mononoke” is used only once–and how does the person
who uses it know that that’s the girl’s name? It’s not what she calls
herself. What’s with the brothel girls? How come lepers are so good at
designing guns? (You might think that it’s a comment on the sort of
people who make guns, but it doesn’t seem to be.)

A lot of the movie resonates with the kind of
anti-technological spiritual-but-not-religious worship of nature that I
associate with New Agers and Hollywood stars–but not quite. It’s all
very strange, and the characters’ motivations become increasingly hard
to understand as the movie progresses.

Perhaps it’s just a Japanese thing that doesn’t translate well; perhaps
the movie depends on some Japanese legend that fills in the gaps. I
don’t know.

Bottom line: I loved the animation, which was easily enough to hold my
attention. It was truly gorgeous. The story, such as it was, left
me cold.