Miyazaki Countdown Part 7 - Princess Mononoke

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's second Countdown miniseries on 2023, a podcast first focusing entirely on the works of Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki: the Miyazaki Countdown. To honor one of the living legends of animation, the countdown crew of Scott, Scott, and Jay will watch all 11 of Miyazaki's films to-date, rewinding all the way back to his directorial origins with 1979's action-adventure heist thriller LUPIN III: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, all the way to his then-final film, 2013's biographical epic romance drama, THE WIND RISES. Join us each week over the next 11 weeks, as we build up to what is Miyazaki's self-proclaimed now-final film (we'll see...), the fantasy epic, THE BOY AND THE HERON.

 

In Part 7 of the Miyazaki Countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay discuss the film that catapulted Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli to international recognition, the 1997 fantasy epic, PRINCESS MONONOKE. Set in the late Muromachi period of Japan (14th-16th century AD) and centering on Ashitaka, one of the last young princes of the indigenous Emishi tribe, PRINCESS MONONOKE opens with a demon-possessed boar god attacking Ashitaka's village. He manages to fend the boar off, but at great personal cost, as the boar passes the curse to Ashitaka before he is slain. One of the elders of the Emishi tribe give Ashitaka a choice: set out from the village heading west in search of the cure to this curse and never be allowed to return to his homeland, or surely perish as the curse consumes him. Ashitaka of course takes the former option, and heads west, with only a single lead: a heavy iron ball in the stomach of the boar that appears to have caused the demonic corruption. On his journey, Ashitaka encounters Jigo, a mischievous monk who informs him that the Great Forest Spirit may be able to help cure him. When Ashitaka heads that direction, he encounters a new settlement - Iron Town, a refuge for societal outcasts like lepers and prostitutes - run by the enterprising Lady Eboshi, who is in conflict with the local wolf god of the forest, Moro, her two cubs, and a young girl, San, that Moro has taken in after she was abandoned in the forest as a baby. Ashitaka finds himself stuck in the middle between both sides of the conflict and must find a way to convince each side that peace and compromise are the better option than continued destruction of either the forest or the local people. Easier said than done for Ashitaka, and the countdown crew give their thoughts on what may be Miyazaki's most nuanced film to-date, discussing a number of complex themes about balance and duality, as well as economic development and environmental preservation. Those ideas, the most expansive plot of his since NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND, and the production and musical score create a recipe for plenty to discuss.