This is a brilliant mystical-historical anime saga about the medieval Japanese war with forest deities.
The filmography of the great Japanese auteur Hayao Miyazaki is full of masterpieces and choosing the most important among them is almost impossible.
However, Ana de Armas managed to do it – the actress shared her four favorite movies with Letterboxd and among them was Miyazaki's gem, Princess Mononoke:
“I was in Madrid and they were doing a series of Miyazaki's films weekly. And I just went and watched Princess Mononoke on the big screen, which I hadn't seen before, and it's just – I was just crying the whole way. It's stunning. It's beautiful cinema.”
What Is Princess Mononoke About?
After killing a boar, the young prince Ashitaka fell under a deadly curse. An old witch told him that only he could change his fate. And so the brave warrior set out on a perilous journey.
He found himself in a mysterious land where humans, led by the evil Lady Eboshi, were fighting the inhabitants of the forest: ghosts, demons, and giant creatures Ashitaka had never seen before.
And with them was Princess Mononoke, mistress of the beasts and daughter of a wolf. Now the fate of all depends on one warrior – Prince Ashitaka.
Princess Mononoke Is Hayao Miyazaki Greatest Masterpiece
If you want to see only one Japanese movie in your life, watch Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. It will tell you a lot about the Japanese national religion Shinto, about the Japanese philosophy of life, about the Japanese Middle Ages, about the Japanese worship of wolves.
It will offer you a gripping epic about the confrontation between people and forest spirits, it will refuse to portray one side as absolutely right, it will introduce you to the most charismatic characters, both people and animals. And it will amaze you with impeccable graphics and animation.
Before The Titanic Release, Princess Mononoke Was the Highest-Grossing Movie in Japan
It will offer you a gripping epic about the confrontation between humans and forest spirits, it will refuse to portray one side as absolutely right, and it will introduce you to the most charismatic characters, both human and animal. And it will amaze you with its impeccable graphics and animations.
One of Hayao Miyazaki's greatest masterpieces, Princess Mononoke was made in defiance of critics who accused the director of being inspired by Western plots and of straying from his national roots.
The story of Princess Mononoke takes place in 15th-century Japan, during the period of maximum feudal fragmentation. Prior to the release of Titanic in 1997, Miyazaki's film was the highest grossing film in Japanese box office history.