Studio Ghibli Thoughts: Princess Mononoke

Hayao Miyazaki had a clear goal when making his fantasy epic Princess Mononoke, a goal he already arguably pursued with his first film under the Ghibli umbrella, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The goal was to portray the ongoing battle between human civilization and nature, and how this conflict between the ferocious “gods” of nature and humanity can never have a happy ending. While Nausicaa depicted this conflict at its latest stage, when humanity nearly destroyed itself in its destruction of the natural world, Princess Mononoke depicts the first steps when civilization started to conquer nature and the ancient gods ceased to exist.

In typical Miyazaki fashion, this is not a preaching work, and it does not shy away from showing the complexities of all sides. Ahitaka, the hero of the movie (a male hero being a rarity for Miyazaki), is cursed by something that he and his community had no direct involvement with. As such, he reaches the forest at the center of the conflict as a 3rd party outsider interested in lifting his curse and little else.

The central parts of the conflict are the denizens of Iron Town, led by Lady Eboshi, who must consume nature to thrive, and the gods of the forest who fight back against its destruction. Since the story is set in ancient times, the forests of Japan still had their ancient gods, represented by huge wolves and boars, but aided by a human girl who was raised by wolves, the titular Princess Mononoke.

Neither party can be classified as totally good or evil. Lady Eboshi leads a compassionate society that gives decent and dignified lives to its inhabitants, and this life demands the consumption of nature; Miyazaki argues that the expansion of civilization necessitates the destruction of nature, which causes humanity to both thrive and head to its own destruction.

While a simple view could show Princess Mononoke as the protector of the forest, we could also see how her outlook cares little for humanity’s comfort or progress, and how easily she would kill any number of humans in order to preserve the forest.

In all of this conflict, Ashitaka serves as an observer who tries to remove the hate at the center of the conflict. Even if this struggle between humanity and nature does not have a happy ending, and even if life is suffering, it is still worth living. Wonderful encounters and beautiful things can still exist.

Naturally, such a complex story could only be brought to life deserving of it through the mastery of Studio Ghibli’s craft. With the largest number of people working on a Ghibli film, every screen drips with artistry. In animation, sound, and art design, it transports the viewer to a world of ancient forests and budding civilization.

Overall, Princess Mononoke is easily one of the great films of our time, and as such is clearly a top-tier Ghibli film. In the past, I have argued that it was a retelling of Nausicaa in a way, but I think that while there are some notable similarities, they are more different than similar.