Princess Mononoke is considered to be the remake of Miyazaki's earlier film, Nausicaa. I must say, it equally matches (and at some parts, surpasses) its predecessor. Although in both films, the characters learn to understand one another, Princess Mononoke's understanding leads to a bit more uncertainty. The ending of the film is definitly less of a joyful one as Princess Mononoke is not considered to be that much of a hero as Nausicaa is in her story.
Also, Princess Mononoke does not contain the same level of epicness as Nausicaa does, mainly because the latter is set in a post-apocalyptic world, while the former is set in a pre-industrialized world. Both films, however, contain enormous beings of destructable power.
This does not mean that Princess Mononoke is less of a film, or less entertaining than Nausicaa. On the contrary, I find Princess Mononoke to be a bit more enjoyable, mainly because of its contemporary style, fuller characters (Princess Mononoke shows more of her personality than Nausicaa does), and unsure ending. Nausicaa is much more similar to contemporary Hollywood cinema in that there is a legend, and the hero becomes the savior and everyone lives happily ever after. What's great about Princess Mononoke is that it follows anime/Miyazaki's style with a more floaty ending. It is difficult to side with any of the groups in conflict; they all have their faults. Therefore, in the end, instead of everyone winning, it's more like everyone going back to their own lives, trying to be more cautious of the other groups.
One of the main things that makes Princess Mononoke better than Nausicaa is that while Nausicaa is on the side of her people of the valley, Princess Mononoke is on the side of nature and the forrest. Nausicaa has less of a connection with the forrest and the insects (she is an outsider) compared to Princess Mononoke, who practically was raised by the wolves and grew up in the forrest. The different angle which the main character comes from strengthens the equality of the triangle conflict. Therefore, nature has a much more stronger siding in Princess Mononoke.
Animation, music, and story of this film makes it a must see out of Miyazaki's works.
9.0
I agree with you. I really loved Nausicaa as well, but the flaws of the characters in Princess Mononoke allowed me to connect with it better. And the ending of Mononoke was better too. They crapped everything up and now have to restart to hopefully build something that can exist in harmony with nature although we don't know that, but that is what we hope for.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to note how both films end. Both of them do have this notion that the world needs to be rethought in some way, becoming more environmentally conscious and all that. But the prospects of rebuilding Nausicaa's world seem less...I don't know, emotionally involving? than Mononoke. I know that Nausicaa's ending is far more unambiguous than Mononoke's, but there's something about the fact that Nausicaa takes place in some future world where we are somewhat disconnected from that rebuilding process. Mononoke, on the other hand, takes place in our world, in our past. The notion of rethought or rebuilding at the end has more emotional weight because it resonates in our world.
ReplyDeleteThat's just my own two cents, anyway. I don't think anyone has really examined in great detail the two films. I wish we could have a whole class just on these two films, looking at them structurally and within Miyazaki's works as a whole. That would be neat.
Yes, I felt more connected with characters in Princess Mononoke.
ReplyDeleteEmotionally involving? I don't quite understand how Nausicaa is more emotionally involving when the setting is in a world were we are, as you mentioned, disconnected from.