“Princess Mononoke” is a story of a
prince, Ashitaka, who, in a battle with a demon, is cursed and is forced to go
find the cure for the curse through the nature god. On his journey to find the
nature god, the prince encounters Princess Mononoke, a girl raised by nature,
who is at battle with civilization. The civilization is led by Lady Eboshi who
is industrializing a town and destroying the nature around it. A man named Jigo
then comes into the conflict and enlists the help of Lady Eboshi in finding the
nature god and beheading it, so that he may gain the reward set on its head.
It is very easy to say that this
story is opening up the discussion on what humans are doing to nature; that
humans are so caught up in creating new weaponry that they completely forget
about the gods around them that take care of the nature. I would argue that the
story is more a story of redemption. The main civilization shown throughout
this film is the village of Iron Town. Iron town does exactly what it sounds
like; it creates iron. This town is led by Lady Eboshi who shows the first
glance of redemption through her choice in workers. Lady Eboshi does not hire a
bunch of men to work her iron mills; she hires women out of whorehouses to
create the iron and lepers to create weaponry out of the iron. Redemption also
shows its way into the story through the main character, Ashitaka. Ashitaka is
on a quest for healing. On this quest he runs into the conflict between Iron
Town and nature. When Ashitaka runs into the leader of nature side of the
conflict, Princess Mononoke, he immediately falls for her. When Princess
Mononoke decides to attack Iron Town, Ashitaka is forced to break up a fight
between Lady Eboshi and Princess Mononoke by knocking both of them out. He then
proceeds to carry Princess Mononoke out of Iron Town, getting himself shot on
the way out. The Princess, in seeing what he has done for her, gets him to the
center of the forest where the nature god dwells where Ashitaka finds himself
healed by the waters of the nature god. Later in the story, Jigo and his men
march on the dwelling of the nature spirit and behead the nature god. The body
of the nature god goes on a rampage to find his head, to which Ashitaka and
Princess Mononoke go out and take back the nature god’s head from Jigo, restoring
order to the world. In returning the nature god’s head, Ashitaka is healed of
his curse and the world is filled with new growth. As you can see, redemption
is the main premise of this story as Ashitaka redeems himself of his curse and
the world is redeemed by the Ashitaka’s sacrifice.
Question 1: What is our role in
taking care of nature?
Question 2: What lessons come out
of this film? What did you learn?
Question 3: One of the other themes
of this movie is “sin” invading the world. How is “sin” portrayed in the
characters of “Princess Mononoke”? What affect does “sin” have on the
characters?
It is quite wonderful that you focused on the redemptive aspects on this movie instead of starting a paragraph on how we need to act and how we need to care for nature. Interesting enough we can relate this to humanity's innate sense of the divine. Reflective of the culture Japan has, this movie shows that there is still respect, though dwindling, for God or the gods. I love how you mentioned that lady Eboshi did hire women from brothels and lepers who were outcast. How do you think we can apply that to the modern day we live in?
ReplyDeleteInteresting analysis, Alex! You point to the complexity of characters who can be both good and evil, which is always a sign of a good story. All of them are in search of redemption in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Miyazaki, the writer and director, told this story? He often focuses on environmental themes and I think knowing more about him might provide additional insight.