A WORD OF CAUTION: lots of spoilers ahead. I highly recommend reading this only after you have watched the movie, because it would be a shame to deprive yourself of the beautiful experience that is Princess Mononoke. This post is also more like a post-mortem discussion of the movie, and although I recount the plot in detail, I think it would be better appreciated / make for a more fulfilling read / discussion with prior knowledge of the movie and consequently perhaps your own reflections about it.
Contrary to many blogs and websites, I have included no images or GIFs of the movie. Studio Ghibli does not permit the use of their images on websites (Trust me, I have checked!). So you'll have to use your imagination (especially if you haven't watched the movie...)
OK you have been warned. Proceed at own will haha.
I know I'm supposed to be posting part 2 of the "Receptivity" series of blog posts, but I haven't been feeling up to writing it lately. The thing with blogging for me is that I usually write what I'm experiencing / learning currently (hey that's being receptive, right?), so yeah, it might take a while before I feel like talking about receptivity again. Sorry to the folks who have been waiting, if there are any haha!
(Very apt words during these times)
Day #23580941204 of the Pandemic. I thank the sense pleasure gods (Mara? Oh no) for putting Ghibli movies on Netflix.
Princess Mononoke 「もののけ姫」
The first time I caught a glimpse of this movie must have been when I was a young kid, maybe in primary school, probably when my cousins were watching them at my aunty's house. I remember thinking it was gruesome because of the image of San with a bloody mouth and the black gooey worm stuff oozing out of the boars, which probably put me off a little.
I'm in my twenties now and more ready to take it on haha. Rewatching it a few weeks ago must have been my third time, and dude, what can I say. Ghibli is magic. I feel like at different stages of my life these movies speak to me differently. You pick up on more things when you start learning more about the world.
This time round watching it, I thought it was brilliant in a novel kind of way. I don't think it's touched me like this before. I actually cannot deal so hard that I have to write this whole blog post about it, which by the way, is really much less a review than just a documentation of my fangirling.
Before we proceed, let us establish:
Everything about this movie is a freaking masterpiece.
The animation. The soundtrack. The characters. The emotions portrayed, captured and evoked. The scenic subtleties of nature, like the sound of the crickets. And the silence. The meanings and messages.
There are so many themes and motifs that can be explored in this movie - nature vs technology, post-war industrialisation, environmentalism, Japanese folklore and mythology, religion, humanity, self and other, mortality, morality and purity, archaic attitudes towards leprosy, etc etc. Miyazaki has really outdone himself with this one, investigating a multitude of issues related to our human condition on an individual, existential and societal level within a two-hour animation. It's incredible and I am in awe.
There's a quote from him on this (as cited in Sullivan, 2016)
“We’ve made many films in the past, and our goal with those films has been to send a message of hope and the possibility of happiness to growing children. What we realized was that by continuing to make movies that only taught them about hope and happiness, we were in fact turning a deaf ear to their very urgent needs and pleas, and that if we did not make a movie that directly addressed their needs and pleas, we no longer would have the right to make films that would encourage them to be hopeful and happy. So we made this film knowing that we would need to step outside the boundaries of what you call entertainment; we made this film from a sense of mission.”
And so he has!
So how can one hope to give adequate commentary to the cinematic, artistic and culturally revolutionary masterpiece that is Princess Mononoke??? The answer is that one cannot. This post is definitely not an attempt to address all the issues that can be addressed.
That being said, another word of caution, it's still going to be a fairly long post I think. I've tried editing the structure a few times but it seems like this is my preferred way to go. What I'll do is chronologically recount the plot in detail with commentary, focusing more on the themes and scenes that resonate with me personally.
(See, this is what you do an Arts degree for!!!)
OK, first up. Let's talk about the protagonist, Ashitaka. He's probably my favourite fictional hero that's ever existed. Dutiful. Upright (well, to a degree). Noble. Brave. Patient. Gentle. Restraint. Steady. Level. Compassionate. Warrior. Maybe these qualities aren't the sexiest but they make my heart sing.
Obviously he's not perfect, he does kill and all that. But in the context of this fictional universe, he's pretty great man, lots of admirable qualities.
Let's talk about the very first action scene, where he kills Nago, a boar god, to protect his village. Before Ashitaka intervenes with Nago's rampage, Ji-san the watchman warns him that the beast is cursed so he should be careful not to let it touch him. So he's aware of the danger right. At first Ashitaka tries pleading with Nago, respectfully asking him to leave the villagers in peace, but to no avail.
He then proceeds to shoot him in the eyes, twice, the second time after having been touched by the black gooey stuff "demonising" Nago. The shot ends up killing him, but the black stuff leaves a cursed mark on Ashitaka's arm.
(Side note: is this a thing in Japanese culture or what? Naruto characters also had the whole cursed mark thing going on.)
After all the battle drama, the village "wise woman" Hi-sama reads the signs and says that the boar god had "some kind of poision inside him, driving him mad, a poisonous hatred that consumed his heart and flesh... and turned him into a demon monster".
She then tells Ashitaka to show everyone his arm, which bears the cursed mark. She then asks Ashitaka if he's ready to hear his fate.
I love this scene because Ashitaka just has this look of resolve and calm on his face, a kind of solemn fearlessness, as he says, "Yes, I was prepared the very moment that I let my arrow fly."
The Japanese here is 心を決めました - I decided in my heart / I resolved in my heart, in that moment.
I know the scene seems casual, but for me this is a strong statement about creating karma (i.e. action with intention).
You make decisions with intention (and hopefully the most wholesome of intentions) and awareness, and with that you fully accept their consequences, whether they end up being good or bad. I love that because in hindsight, when you look back at your actions, even if the results seem unfavourable, you know you can say that you made this decision with authority and firmness, with a readiness to accept the consequences. So whatever follows from there, you just accept. It's a kind of letting go, of any regret or doubt. I love that.
lol Hi-sama straight up tells Ashitaka that the infection will spread, cause him great pain and eventually kill him. Ashitaka looks down, absorbing this heavy news. But he's calm as, reacting in total warrior style. Meanwhile the village elders are freaking the hell out that their last prince has been fated to die.
Hi-sama says Ashitaka cannot alter his fate, but that he can "rise to meet it" if he chooses. She shows everyone an iron ball that was found in Nago's corpse. She says this is what turned him into a demon. She then declares that there is evil happening in the West, and that it is Ashitaka's fate "to go there and see what [he] can see with eyes unclouded by hate".
I love these words maaaaan. For once, the English might be as beautiful as the Japanese.
「曇りのない眼で物事を見定める」
This phrase recurs and sets the tone for the message of the movie. It's Ashitaka's aim, which seems like nothing significant because "seeing with eyes unclouded" is barely a kind of action or actionable objective. But it's actually everything... To keep the mind even, equanimous, free of likes and dislikes, true, free of delusion. It's seeing things as they really are. It's not easy. From a Dhamma POV, it's actually enlightenment haha! In any case, it's a powerful saying (also very poetic) and my favourite at the moment.
So yeah, this is the beginning of the storyline, but also the beginning of a brilliant metaphor, because Hayao Miyazaki is a freaking genius. More on this later.
Ashitaka solemnly accepts. He cuts off his hair (top-knot), which is a big deal because it seems to be a mark of the men of his tribe. In doing this, he is abandoning his status as a member of his clan, as their prince (Scheving, 2015). From here on, on his journeys, he will not speak of the land and the people that he has come from. He is now a nobody.
Double killer sadness - Hi-sama then says they're not even allowed to send him off. Ashitaka says nothing, stands up and leaves.
SORRY again this seems like nothing but just think of the emotion here... he has been sentenced to leave his people forever, most definitely succumb to a deadly curse and has been asked to go on a quest to face some evil somewhere, and he can't even bid farewell the only family he has ever known. The bravery and resolution in his heart, the letting go. Just patience with whatever needs to be done. Warrior. I LOVE IT.
Kaya, who is in love with Ashitaka and was hoping to marry him (Tokuma Shoten & Studio Ghibli, 1997), ignores the rules and says goodbye to him before he rides away with Yakul (his elk). She gives him her crystal dagger, which is apparently a very significant gesture as the ornament is supposedly something incredibly treasured for the clans-people ("Kaya", 2014). Kaya gives it to Ashitaka hoping he will not forget her. Ashitaka says he will always be thinking of Kaya (!!), although there is no further mention of her ever again from this point forth (!!?!!).
Ashitaka passes through a village in the midst of its attack by some samurai, who start attacking him. He shoots arrows in self-defence. My feeling here is that he's not shooting to kill, but as he starts defending himself, the cursed mark starts acting up and causes his arm to go a bit rogue, and his shots end up violently killing / dimembering some samurai.
This scene is interesting. It seems whenever he acts with some kind of malicious / hateful intention, the cursed mark acts up. It appears to symbolise hatred itself, and throughout the movie the more he acts with hatred within his heart, the more the mark spreads and grows.
Ashitaka meets Jigo, this shady dude working for the government (?) but claims he's a monk. Jigo tells Ashitaka about a place where the "Forest Spirit" (henceforth known as the Shishigami) dwells. Ashitaka keeps journeying.
Enter Lady Eboshi and San. Lady Eboshi, the leader of Irontown or Tatara Ba, leads an entourage of men and cattle transporting rice home. They are ambushed by San ("Princess Mononoke" / princess of the wolves) and her wolf clan. The attack is portrayed as one of the many run-ins they have had with one another. Eboshi's men start firing guns at them. San and her wolf sibilings scatter, but Moro, a wolf god and San's "mother", attacks from a different direction and gets shot.
Ashitaka is in the vicinity. Aftermath of the battle, he passes by a river and sees injured men and helps them. As he's doing this, he senses the presence of others - San and the wolves. He sees San for the first time and it's this magical moment - the all-too-familiar scene of San sucking venom and blood from Moro's wound and spitting it out, and then turning to glare at Ashitaka. It's iconic. As she rides away with the wolves, she yells out at Ashitaka to leave. In San's mind, Ashitaka is a human, one of them. No humans are welcome in the forest, they are a cancer. At first sight Ashitaka seemed to think they were gods, but he probably realised San was human when she yelled. I think for him it was like, who is this warrior chick and why is she rolling so closely with the wolves. It's a novel sight for him, and the audience too.
I really love this scene so much. The writers really allocated enough silence and space for the scene to evoke all sorts of emotions and implications - Ashitaka's marvel, human contact, Ashitaka's understanding of San's fierce love and die-hard protectiveness of the forest (which he later says he knew from the moment he saw her). Wonderful scene. Also the music ("The Encounter") here is just STUNNING.
Enter some Kodama, these little cute spirits that are "a sign that the forest is healthy". Ashitaka and the men follow the Kodama through the forest that Jigo was talking about. His arm acts up when he sees the Shishigami, which is a deer-like god that gives and takes life away, and to me seems to be the life and heart of the forest. I don't really have any deep thoughts about the Shishigami, but it just seems like this force of nature, a bit like The Force in Star Wars. Unlike the other gods in the movie (e.g. Nago, Moro and Okkoto), the Shishigami doesn't seem to hold hatred or have any of those messy emotions. It's almost like the Sun or the moon or just the force of life itself. Just nature.
The men arrive back at Irontown, which is where the injured men are from. We have a good look at the place, and it's a giant metal wasteland compared to the scenic forest we saw just before. The villagers are grateful to Ashitaka for returning their men. We see some interesting social dynamics here. Eboshi is the power figure in the village, which is interesting as it's rare to see a female power figure in anything Japanese-related. So, you know, I think that in itself makes a statement. She must really have something going for her.
Miyazaki had this to say about the female leadership (Tokuma Shoten & Studio Ghibli, 1997):
"It's not that I wanted to make it modern. It's just that depicting Tatara Ba under the rule of men would be boring. And if I made the boss of Tatara Ba a man, he would be a manager, not a revolutionary. If it's a woman, she becomes a revolutionary, even if she is doing the same thing."
It's really interesting because Eboshi has a really vocal dislike towards men and thinks they're just inferior compared to woen, and the men don't really challenge that, they actually respect her. The ladies in the villager were former prostitutes freed by Eboshi, and they are the ones working to make the iron (instead of the men, who seem to bring the rice home), and they just seem really empowered. There are also lepers in the village, who Eboshi had rescued and treated herself. So it seems like the villagers are just grateful to her and in awe, almost to the point of worship.
Ashitaka learns about the activities of the villagers - that they make iron and they pretty much tear nature apart for it. We get a real taste of how despicable mankind can be from these scenes, the feeling I have throughout is disgust for the humans and their filthy, selfish, toxic, destructive, consuming activities done out of desire and ignorance. The scene really sets the tone for the whole nature vs humans theme that runs through the film. And it's clear that part of the "evil in the West" is this bunch and their obnoxious gunfire. Ashitaka learns that it's Eboshi's crew that attacked Nago and his boars, and thus lit the fire of hatred in his being. The iron ball found in his body was probably one of their bullets.
Learning of all this, Ashitaka looks grim, and a villager asks him what's wrong. He grips his arm and says he was just thinking how Nago must have died filled with hatred. It's empathy - he understands now some of the other side of the story.
Ashitaka goes and sees Eboshi. She asks why he's really here. Ashitaka is straight up and I love it. He rips off his undershirt and shows her his cursed mark and the iron ball, explaining about Nago. Eboshi goes "What do you plan to do? What exactly are you here for?" while her side dude is about to pull out his katana and kill Ashitaka, who is all cool and collected (he gives me Haku from Spirited Away vibes - especially the scene were Yubaba freaks out that her baby is missing and her hair goes all fiery and crazy and she has her claws around Haku's neck but he's chill as).
Ashitaka goes, "To see with eyes unclouded by hate" 「曇りなきで見定め、決める」
Eboshi laughs at that and decides to show him around. Ashitaka begins to see and understand the operation. Eboshi shows him the lepers who make rifles for her and her fighters. He starts exploding a bit because the ignorance is so next level, he fully calls it out like "How much more hatred and pain do you think we need?" and Eboshi is like, yeah I'm the one who shot Nago, sorry mate. Ashitaka's hatred gets a bit real and so his arm starts going rogue, trying to grab his sword without his control. Like Mara has fully hijacked his arm. But he restrained himself and Eboshi taunts him, "Does that right hand of yours wish to kill me now, Ashitaka?" AND HE IS LIKE
"If it would lift the curse, I'd let it tear you apart, but even that wouldn't end the killing now, would it?"
Pause.
Metaphor analysis time.
Hatred begets hatred. Eboshi shoots boar, triggers hatred defilement in boar. Boar gets overcome by hatred and becomes a literal demon, attacks the Emishi tribe (i.e. Ashitaka's people). Ashitaka kills boar with hatred in his heart, gets cursed such that if he succumbs to hatred, he will be overcome by it and die. In this present moment, hatred has entered his heart again. If he succumbs to it and kills Eboshi, the cycle of hatred continues. The curse continues. And he will die, in the sense that his goodness dies, his humanity dies. He will lose himself to the darkness.
Through this line spoken by Ashitaka, Miyazaki expresses that hatred and the act of killing that results is the curse itself. Ashitaka's restraint is a glimpse of his understanding that hatred does not solve the problem created by hatred, it perpetuates it.
Then one of the lepers pipes up, telling Eboshi not to overlook Ashitaka's strength and telling Ashitaka not to take revenge on Eboshi. He speaks of her virtues, compassion and kindness towards them. He's telling Ashitaka, and giving commentary really, that there is no one that is wholly bad or wholly good. It's not that straightforward. And this is what we see in this movie that is so different from like a Disney movie, where the villain is so easily identified (see [Tokuma Shoten & Studio Ghibli, 1997) for more discussion). We are inclined to take the side of San and the wolves and the forest, and to see Eboshi as the villain. But she is not wholly bad, she has compassion and love and acts for the good of her people. And this reflects the complexity of people in the real world. But what can be certain is that when any character acts out of unwholesome intention, tainted with greed, hatred or delusion, the result is unwholesome. This reflects the laws of causality in the real world as well.
San attacks Irontown. The villagers prepare to trap her. Ashitaka tries to stop her, to save her, tells her to go back to the forest. San ends up getting into one-on-one combat with Eboshi. She means to kill her.
Ashitaka approaches the fight, his cursed mark is actin up so hard that it's manifesting this spirit-like aura, like the black gooey stuff on Nago's body. But he's steady, not going rogue. he comes between San and Eboshi, and I think it's at this moment that he understands his duty, what it means to 'see with eyes unclouded'. It's at this moment that the clouds start parting from his view.
Ashitaka reaches out his arms. San pounds his chest with the crystal dagger. She's lumping Ashitaka in with all of humanity again - whatever trust he has worked to build up with her is lost again. She hates him, and she hates all of them. She's rejecting him and his love. In doing so, she's also rejecting her own humanity. She cannot be the very thing that she hates.
Contrary to many blogs and websites, I have included no images or GIFs of the movie. Studio Ghibli does not permit the use of their images on websites (Trust me, I have checked!). So you'll have to use your imagination (especially if you haven't watched the movie...)
OK you have been warned. Proceed at own will haha.
I know I'm supposed to be posting part 2 of the "Receptivity" series of blog posts, but I haven't been feeling up to writing it lately. The thing with blogging for me is that I usually write what I'm experiencing / learning currently (hey that's being receptive, right?), so yeah, it might take a while before I feel like talking about receptivity again. Sorry to the folks who have been waiting, if there are any haha!
"How do you live with a true heart when everything around you is collapsing?"
- Hayao Miyazaki
(Very apt words during these times)
Day #23580941204 of the Pandemic. I thank the sense pleasure gods (Mara? Oh no) for putting Ghibli movies on Netflix.
Princess Mononoke 「もののけ姫」
The first time I caught a glimpse of this movie must have been when I was a young kid, maybe in primary school, probably when my cousins were watching them at my aunty's house. I remember thinking it was gruesome because of the image of San with a bloody mouth and the black gooey worm stuff oozing out of the boars, which probably put me off a little.
I'm in my twenties now and more ready to take it on haha. Rewatching it a few weeks ago must have been my third time, and dude, what can I say. Ghibli is magic. I feel like at different stages of my life these movies speak to me differently. You pick up on more things when you start learning more about the world.
This time round watching it, I thought it was brilliant in a novel kind of way. I don't think it's touched me like this before. I actually cannot deal so hard that I have to write this whole blog post about it, which by the way, is really much less a review than just a documentation of my fangirling.
Before we proceed, let us establish:
Everything about this movie is a freaking masterpiece.
The animation. The soundtrack. The characters. The emotions portrayed, captured and evoked. The scenic subtleties of nature, like the sound of the crickets. And the silence. The meanings and messages.
There are so many themes and motifs that can be explored in this movie - nature vs technology, post-war industrialisation, environmentalism, Japanese folklore and mythology, religion, humanity, self and other, mortality, morality and purity, archaic attitudes towards leprosy, etc etc. Miyazaki has really outdone himself with this one, investigating a multitude of issues related to our human condition on an individual, existential and societal level within a two-hour animation. It's incredible and I am in awe.
There's a quote from him on this (as cited in Sullivan, 2016)
“We’ve made many films in the past, and our goal with those films has been to send a message of hope and the possibility of happiness to growing children. What we realized was that by continuing to make movies that only taught them about hope and happiness, we were in fact turning a deaf ear to their very urgent needs and pleas, and that if we did not make a movie that directly addressed their needs and pleas, we no longer would have the right to make films that would encourage them to be hopeful and happy. So we made this film knowing that we would need to step outside the boundaries of what you call entertainment; we made this film from a sense of mission.”
And so he has!
So how can one hope to give adequate commentary to the cinematic, artistic and culturally revolutionary masterpiece that is Princess Mononoke??? The answer is that one cannot. This post is definitely not an attempt to address all the issues that can be addressed.
That being said, another word of caution, it's still going to be a fairly long post I think. I've tried editing the structure a few times but it seems like this is my preferred way to go. What I'll do is chronologically recount the plot in detail with commentary, focusing more on the themes and scenes that resonate with me personally.
(See, this is what you do an Arts degree for!!!)
OK, first up. Let's talk about the protagonist, Ashitaka. He's probably my favourite fictional hero that's ever existed. Dutiful. Upright (well, to a degree). Noble. Brave. Patient. Gentle. Restraint. Steady. Level. Compassionate. Warrior. Maybe these qualities aren't the sexiest but they make my heart sing.
Obviously he's not perfect, he does kill and all that. But in the context of this fictional universe, he's pretty great man, lots of admirable qualities.
Let's talk about the very first action scene, where he kills Nago, a boar god, to protect his village. Before Ashitaka intervenes with Nago's rampage, Ji-san the watchman warns him that the beast is cursed so he should be careful not to let it touch him. So he's aware of the danger right. At first Ashitaka tries pleading with Nago, respectfully asking him to leave the villagers in peace, but to no avail.
He then proceeds to shoot him in the eyes, twice, the second time after having been touched by the black gooey stuff "demonising" Nago. The shot ends up killing him, but the black stuff leaves a cursed mark on Ashitaka's arm.
(Side note: is this a thing in Japanese culture or what? Naruto characters also had the whole cursed mark thing going on.)
After all the battle drama, the village "wise woman" Hi-sama reads the signs and says that the boar god had "some kind of poision inside him, driving him mad, a poisonous hatred that consumed his heart and flesh... and turned him into a demon monster".
She then tells Ashitaka to show everyone his arm, which bears the cursed mark. She then asks Ashitaka if he's ready to hear his fate.
I love this scene because Ashitaka just has this look of resolve and calm on his face, a kind of solemn fearlessness, as he says, "Yes, I was prepared the very moment that I let my arrow fly."
The Japanese here is 心を決めました - I decided in my heart / I resolved in my heart, in that moment.
I know the scene seems casual, but for me this is a strong statement about creating karma (i.e. action with intention).
You make decisions with intention (and hopefully the most wholesome of intentions) and awareness, and with that you fully accept their consequences, whether they end up being good or bad. I love that because in hindsight, when you look back at your actions, even if the results seem unfavourable, you know you can say that you made this decision with authority and firmness, with a readiness to accept the consequences. So whatever follows from there, you just accept. It's a kind of letting go, of any regret or doubt. I love that.
lol Hi-sama straight up tells Ashitaka that the infection will spread, cause him great pain and eventually kill him. Ashitaka looks down, absorbing this heavy news. But he's calm as, reacting in total warrior style. Meanwhile the village elders are freaking the hell out that their last prince has been fated to die.
Hi-sama says Ashitaka cannot alter his fate, but that he can "rise to meet it" if he chooses. She shows everyone an iron ball that was found in Nago's corpse. She says this is what turned him into a demon. She then declares that there is evil happening in the West, and that it is Ashitaka's fate "to go there and see what [he] can see with eyes unclouded by hate".
I love these words maaaaan. For once, the English might be as beautiful as the Japanese.
「曇りのない眼で物事を見定める」
This phrase recurs and sets the tone for the message of the movie. It's Ashitaka's aim, which seems like nothing significant because "seeing with eyes unclouded" is barely a kind of action or actionable objective. But it's actually everything... To keep the mind even, equanimous, free of likes and dislikes, true, free of delusion. It's seeing things as they really are. It's not easy. From a Dhamma POV, it's actually enlightenment haha! In any case, it's a powerful saying (also very poetic) and my favourite at the moment.
So yeah, this is the beginning of the storyline, but also the beginning of a brilliant metaphor, because Hayao Miyazaki is a freaking genius. More on this later.
Ashitaka solemnly accepts. He cuts off his hair (top-knot), which is a big deal because it seems to be a mark of the men of his tribe. In doing this, he is abandoning his status as a member of his clan, as their prince (Scheving, 2015). From here on, on his journeys, he will not speak of the land and the people that he has come from. He is now a nobody.
Double killer sadness - Hi-sama then says they're not even allowed to send him off. Ashitaka says nothing, stands up and leaves.
SORRY again this seems like nothing but just think of the emotion here... he has been sentenced to leave his people forever, most definitely succumb to a deadly curse and has been asked to go on a quest to face some evil somewhere, and he can't even bid farewell the only family he has ever known. The bravery and resolution in his heart, the letting go. Just patience with whatever needs to be done. Warrior. I LOVE IT.
Kaya, who is in love with Ashitaka and was hoping to marry him (Tokuma Shoten & Studio Ghibli, 1997), ignores the rules and says goodbye to him before he rides away with Yakul (his elk). She gives him her crystal dagger, which is apparently a very significant gesture as the ornament is supposedly something incredibly treasured for the clans-people ("Kaya", 2014). Kaya gives it to Ashitaka hoping he will not forget her. Ashitaka says he will always be thinking of Kaya (!!), although there is no further mention of her ever again from this point forth (!!?!!).
Ashitaka passes through a village in the midst of its attack by some samurai, who start attacking him. He shoots arrows in self-defence. My feeling here is that he's not shooting to kill, but as he starts defending himself, the cursed mark starts acting up and causes his arm to go a bit rogue, and his shots end up violently killing / dimembering some samurai.
This scene is interesting. It seems whenever he acts with some kind of malicious / hateful intention, the cursed mark acts up. It appears to symbolise hatred itself, and throughout the movie the more he acts with hatred within his heart, the more the mark spreads and grows.
Ashitaka meets Jigo, this shady dude working for the government (?) but claims he's a monk. Jigo tells Ashitaka about a place where the "Forest Spirit" (henceforth known as the Shishigami) dwells. Ashitaka keeps journeying.
Enter Lady Eboshi and San. Lady Eboshi, the leader of Irontown or Tatara Ba, leads an entourage of men and cattle transporting rice home. They are ambushed by San ("Princess Mononoke" / princess of the wolves) and her wolf clan. The attack is portrayed as one of the many run-ins they have had with one another. Eboshi's men start firing guns at them. San and her wolf sibilings scatter, but Moro, a wolf god and San's "mother", attacks from a different direction and gets shot.
Ashitaka is in the vicinity. Aftermath of the battle, he passes by a river and sees injured men and helps them. As he's doing this, he senses the presence of others - San and the wolves. He sees San for the first time and it's this magical moment - the all-too-familiar scene of San sucking venom and blood from Moro's wound and spitting it out, and then turning to glare at Ashitaka. It's iconic. As she rides away with the wolves, she yells out at Ashitaka to leave. In San's mind, Ashitaka is a human, one of them. No humans are welcome in the forest, they are a cancer. At first sight Ashitaka seemed to think they were gods, but he probably realised San was human when she yelled. I think for him it was like, who is this warrior chick and why is she rolling so closely with the wolves. It's a novel sight for him, and the audience too.
I really love this scene so much. The writers really allocated enough silence and space for the scene to evoke all sorts of emotions and implications - Ashitaka's marvel, human contact, Ashitaka's understanding of San's fierce love and die-hard protectiveness of the forest (which he later says he knew from the moment he saw her). Wonderful scene. Also the music ("The Encounter") here is just STUNNING.
Enter some Kodama, these little cute spirits that are "a sign that the forest is healthy". Ashitaka and the men follow the Kodama through the forest that Jigo was talking about. His arm acts up when he sees the Shishigami, which is a deer-like god that gives and takes life away, and to me seems to be the life and heart of the forest. I don't really have any deep thoughts about the Shishigami, but it just seems like this force of nature, a bit like The Force in Star Wars. Unlike the other gods in the movie (e.g. Nago, Moro and Okkoto), the Shishigami doesn't seem to hold hatred or have any of those messy emotions. It's almost like the Sun or the moon or just the force of life itself. Just nature.
The men arrive back at Irontown, which is where the injured men are from. We have a good look at the place, and it's a giant metal wasteland compared to the scenic forest we saw just before. The villagers are grateful to Ashitaka for returning their men. We see some interesting social dynamics here. Eboshi is the power figure in the village, which is interesting as it's rare to see a female power figure in anything Japanese-related. So, you know, I think that in itself makes a statement. She must really have something going for her.
Miyazaki had this to say about the female leadership (Tokuma Shoten & Studio Ghibli, 1997):
"It's not that I wanted to make it modern. It's just that depicting Tatara Ba under the rule of men would be boring. And if I made the boss of Tatara Ba a man, he would be a manager, not a revolutionary. If it's a woman, she becomes a revolutionary, even if she is doing the same thing."
It's really interesting because Eboshi has a really vocal dislike towards men and thinks they're just inferior compared to woen, and the men don't really challenge that, they actually respect her. The ladies in the villager were former prostitutes freed by Eboshi, and they are the ones working to make the iron (instead of the men, who seem to bring the rice home), and they just seem really empowered. There are also lepers in the village, who Eboshi had rescued and treated herself. So it seems like the villagers are just grateful to her and in awe, almost to the point of worship.
Ashitaka learns about the activities of the villagers - that they make iron and they pretty much tear nature apart for it. We get a real taste of how despicable mankind can be from these scenes, the feeling I have throughout is disgust for the humans and their filthy, selfish, toxic, destructive, consuming activities done out of desire and ignorance. The scene really sets the tone for the whole nature vs humans theme that runs through the film. And it's clear that part of the "evil in the West" is this bunch and their obnoxious gunfire. Ashitaka learns that it's Eboshi's crew that attacked Nago and his boars, and thus lit the fire of hatred in his being. The iron ball found in his body was probably one of their bullets.
Learning of all this, Ashitaka looks grim, and a villager asks him what's wrong. He grips his arm and says he was just thinking how Nago must have died filled with hatred. It's empathy - he understands now some of the other side of the story.
Ashitaka goes and sees Eboshi. She asks why he's really here. Ashitaka is straight up and I love it. He rips off his undershirt and shows her his cursed mark and the iron ball, explaining about Nago. Eboshi goes "What do you plan to do? What exactly are you here for?" while her side dude is about to pull out his katana and kill Ashitaka, who is all cool and collected (he gives me Haku from Spirited Away vibes - especially the scene were Yubaba freaks out that her baby is missing and her hair goes all fiery and crazy and she has her claws around Haku's neck but he's chill as).
Ashitaka goes, "To see with eyes unclouded by hate" 「曇りなきで見定め、決める」
Eboshi laughs at that and decides to show him around. Ashitaka begins to see and understand the operation. Eboshi shows him the lepers who make rifles for her and her fighters. He starts exploding a bit because the ignorance is so next level, he fully calls it out like "How much more hatred and pain do you think we need?" and Eboshi is like, yeah I'm the one who shot Nago, sorry mate. Ashitaka's hatred gets a bit real and so his arm starts going rogue, trying to grab his sword without his control. Like Mara has fully hijacked his arm. But he restrained himself and Eboshi taunts him, "Does that right hand of yours wish to kill me now, Ashitaka?" AND HE IS LIKE
"If it would lift the curse, I'd let it tear you apart, but even that wouldn't end the killing now, would it?"
Pause.
Metaphor analysis time.
Hatred begets hatred. Eboshi shoots boar, triggers hatred defilement in boar. Boar gets overcome by hatred and becomes a literal demon, attacks the Emishi tribe (i.e. Ashitaka's people). Ashitaka kills boar with hatred in his heart, gets cursed such that if he succumbs to hatred, he will be overcome by it and die. In this present moment, hatred has entered his heart again. If he succumbs to it and kills Eboshi, the cycle of hatred continues. The curse continues. And he will die, in the sense that his goodness dies, his humanity dies. He will lose himself to the darkness.
Through this line spoken by Ashitaka, Miyazaki expresses that hatred and the act of killing that results is the curse itself. Ashitaka's restraint is a glimpse of his understanding that hatred does not solve the problem created by hatred, it perpetuates it.
Then one of the lepers pipes up, telling Eboshi not to overlook Ashitaka's strength and telling Ashitaka not to take revenge on Eboshi. He speaks of her virtues, compassion and kindness towards them. He's telling Ashitaka, and giving commentary really, that there is no one that is wholly bad or wholly good. It's not that straightforward. And this is what we see in this movie that is so different from like a Disney movie, where the villain is so easily identified (see [Tokuma Shoten & Studio Ghibli, 1997) for more discussion). We are inclined to take the side of San and the wolves and the forest, and to see Eboshi as the villain. But she is not wholly bad, she has compassion and love and acts for the good of her people. And this reflects the complexity of people in the real world. But what can be certain is that when any character acts out of unwholesome intention, tainted with greed, hatred or delusion, the result is unwholesome. This reflects the laws of causality in the real world as well.
San attacks Irontown. The villagers prepare to trap her. Ashitaka tries to stop her, to save her, tells her to go back to the forest. San ends up getting into one-on-one combat with Eboshi. She means to kill her.
Ashitaka approaches the fight, his cursed mark is actin up so hard that it's manifesting this spirit-like aura, like the black gooey stuff on Nago's body. But he's steady, not going rogue. he comes between San and Eboshi, and I think it's at this moment that he understands his duty, what it means to 'see with eyes unclouded'. It's at this moment that the clouds start parting from his view.
He remarks, "There's a demon inside of you. It's inside both of you."
His cursed marks starts manifesting stuff like crazy and San, who was chewing on his arm before, freaks out haha. He goes, "Look, everyone! This is what hatred looks like. This is what it does when it catches hold of you. It's eating me alive, and very soon now it will kill me! Fear and anger only make it grow faster."
Cool man you get the metaphor.
He stuns both women with the butt of his sword and asks the villagers to take Eboshi from him. He means no harm at all, you can see it on his face and feel the vibe. But then, you know, Eboshi is like a respected figure and stunning her in her own village is a bit out of line. So this chick rocks up with a rifle aimed at Ashitaka, but he just starts walking away with San, and the chick is shocked too, but accidentally fires the gun and wounds Ashitaka, who keeps walking like it's nothing because our mate has a bit of demon power going for him.
He leaves with San on Yakul, followed by the wolves. Ashitaka starts feeling the wound and falls off Yakul, full injured and dedding. San brings him to the forest and puts him by the Shishigami's island, with his body partially soaked in the Shishigami's pool, which I think has magical healing properties. Anyway. The Shishigami comes and heals Ashitaka, but doesn't take the curse away. In fact, after that whole episode in Irontown, the cursed mark has spread even more.
San takes Ashitaka's recovery as a sign that the Shishigami has determined that he should live, and so decides to help him. We get to know her a bit better around this juncture, and you can tell she doesn't really have the same refinement and social etiquette as a normal human, she's pretty coarse and wild and wolf-like but I like it because just means she's real. She also fully mouthfeeds Ashitaka because he's too weak to eat. Ashitaka tears up a bit.
This is one of those brilliant Ghibli-esque silent scenes where there's enough space for you to feel all sorts of things that the characters are feeling - and the feeling here is a sense of hopelessness and fear. For me, the feeling comes from how brave Ashitaka has been so far, and he probably started having this hope that the Shishigami would be able to heal him (probably from Jigo's explanations and stuff along the way), but no, it just healed the bullet wound but not the curse. So it seems he's still fated to die, and of course that's terrifying. And while he's already feeling helpless about his fate, he's so weak right now that he has to be mouthfed to stay alive.
YOU KNOW WHEN THE MOVIE IS ANIMATED BUT IT'S JUST REAL LIKE THAT
So suddenly a ton of boars show up. The wolf clan appears as well. The boars say they're gonna fight the humans of Irontown and save the forest. Lots of convo. Next scene - turns out Eboshi and that bogus monk Jigo are in cahoots to kill the Shishigami (something about the Shishigami's blood being able to heal things??) for the emperor (?). This act right here for me symbolises the defilements of the human mind and how ugly they can be when they manifest. They mean to kill the very heart of the forest. I can't even deal. Basically, at this point, the animals and humans are about to go to war with one another.
Ashitaka continues to rest and recover in the wolf clan's cave, with San by his side. His arm acts up, waking him. He has a convo with Moro, who is savage and basically tells him to end his own life because the curse will kill him anyway. Moro tells Ashitaka how she wants to kill Eboshi - remember, she still has the bullet in her body from before. It's like with Nago. The seed of hatred remains. Ashitaka begins to question why humans and the forest cannot coexist together, why does the fighting have to continue? And what will happen to San? What is Moro's plan - will she just let San die with her? Oh yeah at this point - Ashitaka and San are probably already in love, or at least Ashitaka is in love with her.
Moro goes, "Typical. Selfish. You think like a human. San is my daughter. She is of the wolf tribe. When the forest dies, so does she."
Moro is that character with that hardcore take-no-shits attitude that I low-key love.
I find it interesting that Moro has this view - if San is to die, she will do so with the forest and the other animals, as opposed to "save ourselves". Maybe that's how animals operate. They think of the tribe over the self.
Ashitaka demands that San be "set free", that she is human and not a wolf. Moro retaliates and tells him how she came to adopt San as one of her children out of compassion. She is now neither human nor wolf. How could Ashitaka help her? Ashitaka says he doesnt know but that they might find a way to live together. Moro scoffs and tells him to leave at sunrise.
The next day, Ashitaka and Yakul leave the forest. One of the wolves follow them to ensure their departure. Before leaving, Ashitaka tosses Kaya's crystal dagger to the wolf and tells him to give it to San. Pause.
Dude. MAJORRRRRR SYMBOLISM! I was talking to my friend Yuki (a fellow Mononoke and Ghibli fan) about this part the other day and we were both bothered by it because there's no certain answer as to what it means. But there are a few possibilities, and I think they are all like wow.
Recap: Kaya, who is in love with Ashitaka, gives him a (perhaps the most) treasured possession of her's. Ashitaka realises the significance of this - he even hesitates and questions her before he takes it. He then says he will always think of her. This is like a promise of love or something right.
In this present scene with San's wolf sibling, Ashitaka is supposedly leaving the forest for good, just like the first part of the movie where he leaving the Emishi tribe for good. Here, Ashitaka's actions mirror that of Kaya's, but it sends another message - he is giving up that promise to Kaya that she will always be on his mind or in his heart. It now seems that that person is San. San is the person he treasures and will always be thinking of. Just like Kaya, he doesn't want San to forget him. TL;DR: Ashitaka is probably telling San he loves her, or that he treasures her.
San and the wolves watch the humans (Eboshi and Jigo's men) from afar. They burn things to cut off the animals' sense of smell. It appears to be a trap to lure the boars out of the forest. San tells Moro that she has to go to Okkoto, the blind boar god leading the boar army, and "be his eyes". Moro tells her that's okay, and that she also has the option of spending her life with Ashitaka (despite previously telling him to kill himself!!! Hahaha I love it. You can sense the affection from Moro. High level metta.) In reply, San says she hates humans, implying that she lumps Ashitaka in with the rest of them.
But in the next scene - oh, San takes the crystal dagger from one of the wolves. She knows it's from Ashitaka. She wears it around her neck. This kind of contradicts what she just said to Moro - she hates humans, but she accepts Ashitaka's affection. So perhaps he's an exception in her mind. An acceptable human. Moro tells the wolves to stay with San, while she goes to the Shishigami.
The boars start charging towards the humans, with San and the wolves alongside.
Ashitaka is riding away when he hears gunfire from Irontown. It's been invaded by Lord Asano's samurai (for more discussion on this, see Tokuma Shoten & Studio Ghibli, 1997). The women are holding the fort. They tell Ashitaka that Eboshi has gone with Jigo to kill the Shishigami. Ashitaka is like omg no wonder there's shit going down, and goes back to the forest to let Eboshi know that Irontown is under attack.
On the way back, Ashitaka gets attacked by Samurai. Yakul gets shot, Ashitaka's cursed mark grows. He dismembers a samurai's arm and shoots another with his own arrow. From attachment is hatred born.
Next scene. Burning animal flesh. Dead human bodies - fighters from Irontown. The boars were led into a trap of landmines set by Eboshi and Jigo's men. Some of Eboshi's own men were sacrificed as part of the trap. Defilements galore.
One of San's wolf siblings wiggles out from under the boar corpses. Ashitaka and Eboshi's men free it. Ashitaka starts telling the men the game plan, and they all heed his instructions in harmony. Dude! He just commands their respect and fellowship even though he's an outsider because he's just been acting with goodwill towards them this whole time. I love it.
Ashitaka gives them his bow and arrows, saying he won't be needing them where he's going. To me that says, no violence in the sacred place of the Shishigami. Together with the wolf, they go and find San and Eboshi.
Okkoto is badly injured. San leads him to the pool of the Shishigami. Humans disguised as boars start appearing - they wear boar skins to hide their scent. Okkoto thinks his dead fellow boar warrior have come back to life, which gives him the strength to go forward to the Shishigami - but this is bad, the humans want him to lead them to the Shishigami so they can find it and kill it oh godddd so terrible
San refuses to leave Okkoto, she doesn't want him to turn into a demon like Nago... but too bad, Okkoto starts doing just that. He feels the same flames burning in him. THE HELL-FIRES OF HATRED. Pause. This simile just came to mind. The commentary to the Satipatthana Sutta says "Anger towards another is just as if someone wishing to hit another person takes hold of glowing coals, or a heated iron-rod, or of excrement" (as cited in Nyanaponika, 1994). The first person you burn / dirty is yourself. Resume. San tries to get the black gooey stuff off Okkoto but one of the humans disguised as a boar knocks her out with a stone. She falls into Okkoto and starts being consumed by the black goo as well. The wolf that's with Ashitaka senses San is in dager and they rush to her.
On the way to San, Ashitaka and the wolf pass by Eboshi. Ashitaka delivers the message that Irontown is under attack. But Eboshi asks for proof. Look, I think Eboshi knows this is true but she just doesn't want to do anything about it. I think she also knows she's being used as a pawn by Jigo and the emperor as well. She's pretty intelligent, so I don't fully understand why she's letting herself be exploited like this. But my feeling is that this is a good compromise for her. I think she intended to kill the Shishigami anyway so that Irontown can just get at the mountain for iron without interference. Maybe Irontown would also be under threat by the government if Eboshi doesn't comply. Who knows.
Ashitaka arrives at the Shishigami's pool and finds Moro lying there. He wonders if she's dead. He starts shouting San's name. She hears him. Okkoto emerges, Ashitaka recognises him and sees that he's turning into a demon. The disguised humans surround Ashitaka and threaten him to leave. But he's just like fearless, smirking and going like, "Fight me and the Shishigmi will never come". He begs Okkoto to give San to him. He climbs in there and starts trying to dig San out of the mass of black goo. He's hurled out of there and lands on Moro, and then into the pool. Moro is in fact not dead, and is aware of what is happening. She was saving the last of her energy to kill Eboshi, but decides it's more important to save San.
Moro warns her wolf children not to touch Okkoto - he's no longer a god. Consumed by hate, you lose yourself and become a demon.
Jigo and Eboshi are in the fringes, looking out for the Shishigami. It emerges and starts walking across the pool in perfect peace amidst all the chaos.
Moro reaches into the demon Okkoto, the black goo starts wrapping around her too but she doesn't care. She starts reaching in with her jaws to get San out of there. I think this is just such a beautiful scene. In conventional terms, San is a human. But in Moro's heart, that's immaterial - San is her daughter. She will save her even if it means she must turn into a demon and die. I think that's beautiful.
Moro speaks to Ashitaka with her mind - "Can you save San?"
Again, amazing. While Moro was harsh with Ashitaka at first, she is actually able to let go of whatever notion of animals vs humans there is with Ashitaka. She knows he means well. She can compromise. She can entrust San to Ashitaka, a human. Because Ashitaka loves San (or perhaps it's more than that - perhaps Moro can sense goodness in him), Moro can look past the fact that he is a human. Motherly compassion and goodwill. High level metta.
Ashitaka gets a hold of himself.
The Shishigami walks up to Moro and Okkoto. Eboshi fires at its head. It's horrific. The audacity. But one shot is not enough to kill a god.
Moro extracts San with her jaws and passes her to Ashitaka, who leaps into the forest pool with her. Remember, it has magical healing properties. So the black goo comes off.
The Shishigami takes the lives of Okkoto and Moro. Peaceful deaths. Okkoto is no longer a demon. Moro has done her duty. THE MUSIC HERE IS PERFECT ("Adagio of Life and Death").
The Shishigami gives and takes life. It is nature itself.
It's nightfall. The Shishigami starts turning into the Nightwalker, it's night form - a giant humanoid deer made of stars. At this point Eboshi starts taking aim at the head, and Ashitaka throws his sword at the gun and pierces through it. The Shishigami starts willing plants to grow out of the gun. But Eboshi's karma is unstoppable, the conditions are too ripe, the action must take place. She shoots and the Shishigami is beheaded. San starts freaking out and the humans just behave in a revolting manner, with greed in their hearts.
The Shishigami's body starts emitting black goo that seems to kill anything it touches. Shinigami (death god) mode. The Kodamas start falling out of the trees and disappearing - a sign that the forest is no longer healthy, it is dying.
Moro's head still manages to move. It bites off Eboshi's arm.
The humans put the Shishigami's head in a container.
Ashitaka swims to Eboshi and her righthand man Gonza, trying to save them. Dude that he does not have hate in his heart right now is amazing.
San is pissed. She rips the crystal dagger necklace off her neck. She wants to kill Ebodhi. Ashitaka wraps his clothes around Eboshi's arm. They have to get out of there, the Shishigami is looking for its head.
Ashitaka asks for San's help. She's pissed, she's like, you were always on their side! I hate all of you humans! Ashitaka goes, San, you're human too. What a beautiful Metaphor Miyazaki has created, where San, a human, hates all of humanity. She's a misanthropist. She thinks she's a wolf. She cannot make peace in her heart around the conflict between the humans and the animals, the way Ashitaka can through his understand that each side has their own viewpoints and reasons and no one is wholly good or bad.
Ashitaka reaches out his arms. San pounds his chest with the crystal dagger. She's lumping Ashitaka in with all of humanity again - whatever trust he has worked to build up with her is lost again. She hates him, and she hates all of them. She's rejecting him and his love. In doing so, she's also rejecting her own humanity. She cannot be the very thing that she hates.
But then San kind of gasps after doing this, almost in disbelief that she's done that. Ashitaka doesn't resist. He goes on and embraces her, and apologises for not being able to stop what has happened. Love.
San grieves in his arms. The forest is dead. It's over.
Ashitaka says it's not over because they are still alive. Again, he asks for her help. In this moment, Ashitaka persuades her to look beyond her hatred towards the humans for what they have done to the forest and work together. With goodwill in his heart, San decides to help for Ashitaka's sake, even if she dislikes the rest of the humans. This is significant.
Ashitaka and San ride on the wolves towards Irontown. Ashitaka tells everyone to go to the river for safety - the water will slow the black goo down.
The two of them catch up with Jigo and the other men and fight for the head of the Shishigami, they mean to return it. They eventually corner Jigo.
Ashitaka says, "Human hands must return it". Ashitaka and San lift the head up, the goo that drips off it onto their skin makes it look like the cursed mark on Ashitaka's body. To me this is the metaphor reaching its climax - the hatred has reached its peak, it is engulfing the entire body. Ashitaka tells the Shishigami they have its head, and to have it back.
The Shishigami bends down and takes its head back, but then collapses on Irontown and the river. A big gust of wind blows out all the fires and completely destroys Irontown. The Shishigami disappears entirely. Ashitaka and San collapse.
Flowers and greenery start to grow back. The most beautiful song that has ever been created by human hands is playing - "Ashitaka and San". I love this scene immensely.
Ashitaka wakes San up and tells her to look around. She's wistful, grieving - even if the trees grow back, it's no longer the Shishigami's forest. He's dead.
Ashitaka looks over and says he's not dead. He is life itself. He possesses (?) both life and death.
シシガミは死にはしないよ。命そのものだから。生と死と、二つとも持ってるもの。
He told me to "live".
私に生きろと言ってくれた。
He stares at his hand, which no longer bears the cursed mark, just a scar of it. *screams* so beautiful.
Just massive symbolism here. The whole movie is a big journey and lesson - Ashitaka has learned that hatred has no place in life if one is to live it to the fullest. Because hatred is like a curse, when it overcomes the heart it kills the goodness in you, it kills off whatever humanity or divinity you had in you. Without these qualities, you are as good as dead. Miyazaki is saying, a life of hatred is not a life worth living. So let go of that hatred. Even if you feel you have every right to hate, even if it is justified. There are always two sides to a conflict and both think they are right. But as Ajahn Chah says, that's "true but not right, right but not true". Even if your belief is true, if you act with defilement in your heart to make that point, you are already wrong in Dhamma.
Ashitaka, for me, pretty much personifies the the middle way. Letting go. Understanding. Seeing, really seeing, with eyes unclouded by defilement or impurity. When you see with eyes unclouded, what remains in place is compassion, goodwill, wisdom, harmony.
Towards the end especially, you just sense a letting go from Ashitaka. It was almost like the most horrible acts of greed, hatred and delusion were being committed around him but he never let that be an excuse for hatred to enter his heart (with the exception of his threat to kill Jigo.... he's not perfect haha).
He was continually letting go. Having seen the forest and Irontown, he understands wy both sides were acting the way they were. With that understanding, there was compassion and goodwill. With compassion and goodwill, how could he hate? Even if actions taken were wrong, Ashitaka understood that both sides had their own reasons, their own good intentions.
With a clearer understanding, one with hatred alleviated, and thus actions done with pure intention to create harmony and peace, there is reconciliation. His actions are so redeeming that the Shishigami not only gave life to the dead forest but gave Ashitaka his fading life back. The curse is lifted, there's liberation of a sort. In doing that, the Shishigami gives Ashitaka a second chance, tells him to live, 生きろ. Don't "die" from hatred any longer.
I love this music so much! It invokes feelings of hope and reconciliation. No more fighting.
San tells Ashitaka she loves him, but that she cannot forgive mankind for what they've done. Ashitaka says that's fine, and that he'll be at Irontown helping the people to rebuild. He'll visit San and the wolves often. "Let's live together" - he means that in the most unconventional sense. He's saying, 共に生きよう "Let's share our lives together", even if that means they have to be apart physically. San smiles and nods in agreement, and rides away with the wolves.
I love how imperfect the ending is. It's not like a Disney movie where suddenly San understands the humans and the humans understand the forest and the villain has been extinguished and everyone lives happily ever after. The real world doesn't work like that - it is unsatisfactory and people hold to their views stubbornly, clouded by hatred and delusion. In this story, both sides have reached a point of climax in tensions, resulting in chaos, damage and loss - the aftermath feels like they've probably realised that overt conflict with one another is so much more damaging to everyone (not just to the side they oppose) than just co-existing that they would rather do the latter (but that doesn't mean they just magically love one another now). No one wins in a war. This is the message, and it's an eternal one, but humans are ignorant and forgetful. This movie is a reminder from Miyazaki.
There's a quote by Miyazaki on this last scene that I love (1995).
“[pitching the proposal for Mononoke-hime (1997)] There cannot be a happy ending to the fight between the raging gods and humans. However, even in the middle of hatred and killings, there are things worth living for. A wonderful meeting, or a beautiful thing can exist. We depict hatred, but it is to depict that there are more important things. We depict a curse, to depict the joy of liberation. What we should depict is, how the boy understands the girl, and the process in which the girl opens her heart to the boy. At the end, the girl will say to the boy, “I love you, Ashitaka. But I cannot forgive humans.” Smiling, the boy should say, “That is fine. Live with me.”
The last scene is a creek and the forest, and a little Kodama walking along. The forest lives on. Just beautiful.
My, oh my. The more I write about this movie, the more I learn about it. It's just so deep and complex.
In true Ghibli fashion, Miyazaki uses the depth and expanse of the animated / mythical world to reflect the realities of the individual, our society and the world. Many messages, and many more things that can be said. But I think this is where I will end this post.
Thank you for reading!
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