As for the individuals living with leprosy, they also had an opportunity to live fulfilled lives. She bought out several women from the brothels and gave them a second chance at life, where they work in the iron mining business and were trained in using a gun to defend their households. Lady Eboshi helped two underrepresented groups: women and the lepers. Lady Eboshi isn’t all that cruel as she demonstrated humility by helping individuals who were powerless and ostracized by society. Although Lady Eboshi may appear to be an enemy in the eyes of San and the Wolf Clan, her character is a bit more complex. As a result, San and the Wolf Clan tried to stop her. She was the leader of Irontown and ambitiously planned to expand her iron business by cutting down the forest trees. This is why it’s a classic.In Princess Mononoke, Lady Eboshi is labeled as the antagonist. But what else would we expect from the master of animation at this point? This is why more than 20 years later, Princess Mononoke is still thought of as one of Miyazaki’s finest works. That he can do all this in a children’s film is nothing short of awe inspiring. It thinks a lack of symbiosis with the world around you is bad, and that hate and violence are destructive forces that only breed more pain and suffering in the end, no matter what cause it’s in service of. Princess Mononoke doesn’t think progress or industry is inherently bad. Even the titular Mononoke herself can be blinded by it as she attempts with single-minded determination to assassinate Lady Eboshi for the damage she’s done to the surrounding forest. Because Miyazaki understands this is how hate actually works. It hadn’t altered his core, merely corrupted it, disguising it. It was still him underneath the thing consuming him. When Ashitaka kills him, the goo disappears and the corpse of the boar god is left behind. When we first see Nago, he’s completely covered in a writing, undulating black goo like hundreds or worms or tiny tentacles. This is why the character design of the demons is so brilliant. Hate is an emotion that’s only a problem when it consumes you. Unlike evil, hate is something all people can see in themselves. Instead, Miyazaki uses the word “hate,” which is a very different thing.
Miyazaki wants it to be crystal clear what Lady Eboshi isn’t. Her weapons are made by lepers that had nowhere else to go until she stepped in. She rescued women from brothels to give them jobs and positions of power in Irontown. His career is built on understanding the myriad complications of being a person in this world, a world with too many layers for a word like “evil” to suffice, and Princess Mononoke reflects that.Īs Ashitaka explores the town, he learns that it’s comprised entirely of outcasts. When Ashitaka finds her and realizes the iron ball that corrupted Nago was from one of Irontown’s guns-guns Lady Eboshi is having them make-the film could cast her squarely as a villain. Lady Eboshi and the settlement of Irontown are perfect illustrations of this.
His career is built on understanding the myriad complications of being a person in this world, a world with too many layers for a word like “evil” to suffice, and Princess Mononoke reflects that. If you were trying to boil the film down, to extract the core lesson it wants you to learn, you might come up with some version of industry = bad, environment = good, but that’s not really Miyazaki’s style. Ashitaka must leave his home for good in the hopes of curing the curse and understanding what malevolent forces are at work. The demon is later revealed to be Nago, the boar god, but an iron ball lodged inside him corrupted him and drove him mad with hate. We follow young Prince Ashitaka’s journey to cure a curse laid upon him by a demon hell bent on destroying his village.
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More specifically, Princess Mononoke is about the relationship between man and nature and how to achieve balance between the pull of industrialization and the need to protect the world around us. There are battle sequences rife with tension, violence that could be considered graphic for its target audience, chase scenes, and beasts far more fearsome than a fluffy catbus. But the first time you see a man’s head sliced clean off by an arrow, it’s clear this is going to be something a little bit different.Īt its core? This is an action film as gripping and enthralling as any blockbuster. It still has all the hallmarks of a Miyazaki: the lush scenery, the magic and mysticism and mythology, a host of fantastical creatures. If you’re familiar only with My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, or even Spirited Away, then Princess Mononoke is going to be a shock to the system.