1. I was a bit confused with this question but this is what I have come up with so please correct me if you have different answers than me.
Some of the underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke are the problematizes archetypes and icons, ranging from the notion of the emperor's untouchability to the traditional iconization of the feminine, to create a genuienly new vision of a Japan at the crossroads of history. The film also emphasizes loss, even privileges it. Although Princess Mononoke is not based on an acutal historical event, it belongs properly in a section on animation and history because, in its distinctive way, it is a meditation on Japanese history that provides a counternarrative to some pivotal myths of Japanese culture and soceity. Princess Mononoke is the highest grosing Japanese film (not just anime) of all time. Its appeal seems to extend to all parts of Japanese society, going beyond the typical family base of most Miyazaki films, despite its complex, ambigious and often dark text that calls into question many long held notions of Japanese identity. The theme of repudation and destruction returns to the notion of the abjected other touched upon at the beginning of this chapter. Certainly one of Miyazaki's major strategies in Princess Mononoke is to privilege a vision in which the abject revenge themselves. This is not an entirely original vision (another version appers in Akira).It is rather one that has lingered ont he boundaries of twentieth century Japanese culture and has undermined the dominant discourse of modernity and progress through the presentation of alternative visions tht privilege the irrational, the supernatural, adn the apocalyptic. Often these visions have been linked to women.
2. According to Napier (2005), the film defamiliarizes conventional notions of Japanese history through Miyazaki's decision to set the film during the foruteenth century Muromachi period and his subsequent subversion of conventional expectations concerning what a film set in that era should "be about". The period is usually considered to be an apex of Japanese high culture, when well known cultural products like the tea ceremony, Noh theater, adn Zen inspired landscape gardens reached their most brilliant form. It was also an era of relative peace, when the ruling Samurai class grew increasingly literate and refined as they settled in the Muromachi section of the capital city of Kyoto, te court aristocracy. Princess Mononoke however, takes plce in a mythical space deeply removed fromt eh cpital, noth literally and symbolically.
3. According to Napier (2005) anime problemative traditional or conservative construcation by the many of accpeted myths of Japanese culture. In keeping with Miyazaki's stirking ability to blend the "real" with the fantastic, princess Mononoke creates a world that appears to have some kind of historical basis but then consistently destabilizes audience expectations of how that world should be. Murase also suggestst that Miyazaki may be covertly playing with gender boundaries behind the screen of the nature/culture dichotomy. It is certainly true that all three female protagonists possess characteristics traditonally coded as male, and that, with the important exception of Ashitaka, there are no "male heroes" in the film. It is also possible to suggest that the use of females in conventionally male coded roles is another link within the films overall strategy of destabilization. By amking the character a women, and one who can both destroy and rebuild, teh film problematizes facile stereotyping of technology, armaments, adn industrializes clture as evil. The only thign I could find about race was 'finally it escapes from teh forest to attack the world of humans, in this case a clan in eastern Japan known as the Emishi (equate in notes to the film with the Non Japanese Ainu race) whose young lord, Ashitaka, ultimately manages to kill the boar'. Also I found this when reading and thought it related to this question. In contrast, Princess Mononoek refuses to sentimentalize the modieval history it highlighta, preferring to problematize the past and implicity the attitude towards it. Furthermore, altough his deception contains important fantasy elements, Miyazaki's decision to use a specific historical period is for reasons of education rather than escapism.
Thank you, Ashleigh. I always like to read your comments before I start mine; I find them all very helpful.
Based on some readings, we know that the movie is set during the Muromachi Era (1392-1573) in Japan. Normally, Japanese fims set in this era focus on the stock characters of the samurai warriors and feudal lords; but Miyazaki focus instead on working class people and artisans, and the 'raging animal gods' of the primal Japanese forests. The central conflict in this film is between the people who are slowly cutting into the forest in order to live and produce their goods and the animal gods who, angered by this, retaliate by attacking the encampment. Miyazaki has put a lot of the thoughts and themes from the latter part of the manga Nausicaa into Mononoke Hime. Unlike the animated version of Nausicaa, Mononoke Hime does not define who is 'right' or 'wrong' in a conflict between man and nature. So, in this sense, Mononoke Hime can be thought of as a thematic or spiritual sequel to Miyazaki's film Nausicaa.
4. According to Wright (2005) Miyazaki addresses humanity and nature by spiritual themes that are present in all of his films to some extent including the Academy Award Winning Spirited Away (2001) and recently released Howl's moving castle (2005), his ealier more are more concerened with articulating the possibility at a mystical connection between humans and the natural world. His work displays a sense of nostalgio for a time when humans loved more in harmony with nature, but at the same time he reguses to deny the current relaity of modernity and industrialisation. Also, Miyazaki has delibrately chosen the temporal settting for Monomoke - the Muromachi era (1392-1573).Historians desvribe it as a time of great upheavel when the relationship between humanity and nature was radically changing in Japan. Miyazaki was not attempting historical realism in his deception of the era; rather, he appears to illustrate a power shift on the growing conflict between the natural world and newly industrialised humans. And so, it was the time when humans declared war on the Kamigami, the wild gods.
5. Miyazaki's vision of religion is not only out of respect for Kami but he uses these characters to represent. They also manifest ideas about a non-intellectual understanding of spirituality that divorces if from institutional religion per se. Miyazaki has decipted the spirits of the forest in various ways from the shishigami, which is a gentle giver and taker of life, to the active, violent wolf and boar dogs. But he believes his use of the Kodama was the most effective. The idea came to Miyazaki because he was interested in portraying a sense of the depth and the mystery, the friendliness and the awe-inspiringness of a froest, and so he came up with the idea of a Kodama. Miyazaki thinks you can draw all the huge, giant trees in the world that you want to. It wont have the same impact. And Miyazaki also wanted to chose a form that represented the liveness and the freedom and the innocence that a baby represents. And that is why Miyazaki chose that form. The sense of the mysterious at the heart of life, the desire to commune with it, and the willingness to express dependence, upon it is the roof from which all mythological expressions of religious experience spring. The way of the Kami thus arose in teh Japanese people of ancient times from their reverence for and pre-intellectual awareness of the structures of being that surronded them.
6. The exceptionally high number of cels produced for Mononoke (144,000 out of which approximately 80,000 were key animation cels) meant that its overall style of motion is substantially more fluid and realistic than one would expect of the average Japanese animation. Computer generated imagery contributed significantly to this cumulative effect by comminicating a sense of solidity and presence comparable to that achieved in live action cinema. The more distinctive things about the film is Miyazaki's unflattering commitment to the animation of its setting by recourse to an aesthitic that priorities the evocation of atmosphere. This is achieved through the consistent juttaposition of pastoral landscapes and outbreaks of violence endowed with eminetly visceral connotations as well as through the use of recurring images comparable to musical refrains such as foilage rustling in the wind or light refracting on water. The animation also benefits greatly from the directors refined sensitivity to the slightest nuances of animal movement. Although Studio Ghibli used CGI extensively in the production of Mononoke (indeed in more than one hundred cuts) the overall animation, much like the story's historical and cultural dimensions - consists of a harmonious blend of the traditional and the novel. The main digital techniques employed in Princess Mononoke are 3D Rendering, Morphing Particles, Digital Composition, Texture Mapping and Digital Painting.
Lastly I would just like to comment on the film we watched in class last Thursday.I think it was called 'Howl's Moving House". I really enjoyed watchign that movie and found it very interesting. I am not usually into watching anime movies and was expecting not to enjoy the movie and find it dull and boring. But I found it to be the complete opposite it was fun and I am now am very interested in the anime genre and want to see more of the movies like this.. What do you guys think about it???
There is no doubt that all the digital techniques employed in Princess Mononoke's visual is a brilliance that is immediately evident. But what sets Miyazaki's film apart from Disney fare is its mature subject matter and complex plot. Mononoke has rich themes: civilization versus nature, the struggle for peace over violence and makind's role in the world. Prince Mononoke is an epic tale of ancient Japanese folklore. Its adult themes are matched by scenes of bloody violence. But it's refreshing to watch an animated film that respects audiences' capability to grasp rich subject matter. The lesson Miyazaki is telling is not only about the environment, but the futility of selfisheness and single-mindedness. Princess Mononoke is a profound work of art, one whose soul lingers long after the end of the film itself. It is a treat for the eye and soul.
Some of the underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke are the problematizes archetypes and icons, ranging from the notion of the emperor's untouchability to the traditional iconization of the feminine, to create a genuienly new vision of a Japan at the crossroads of history.
2) I absolutely agree with the fact that the film defamiliarizes conventional notions of Japaneses history through Miyazaki’s decision. I also found out the fact that the period is considered to be an apex of Japanes high culture, when well known cultural products like the tea ceremony, Noh theatre Zen inspired landscape gardens reached their most brilliant form.
2) I absolutely agree with the fact that the film defamiliarizes conventional notions of Japaneses history through Miyazaki’s decision. I also found out the fact that the period is considered to be an apex of Japanes high culture, when well known cultural products like the tea ceremony, Noh theatre Zen inspired landscape gardens reached their most brilliant form.
3. In maintaining with Miyazaki's stirking ability to blend the "real" with the fantastic, princess Mononoke creates a world that appears to have some kind of historical basis but then consistently destabilizes audience expectations of how that world should be.
4. According to Wright (2005) Miyazaki addresses humanity and nature by spiritual themes that can be seen in all of his films and I also agree with the idea which have be announced that Howl's moving castle (2005), this is concerned with articulating the possibility at a mystical connection between humans and the natural world.
5. I agree with Ashley how she said that “Miyazaki's vision of religion is not only out of respect for Kami but he uses these characters to represent” I believe that Miyazaki has depicted the spirits of the forest in different ways from the shishigami, which is a gentle giver and taker of life, to the active, violent wolf and boar dogs.
16 comments:
1. What are the underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke?
2. How does it ‘defamiliarise’ its historical setting, according to Napier (2005)?
3. According to Napier, how does this anime problematise traditional (or conservative) constructions of gender, class and race?
4. How do it and other Miyazaki films address the humanity/nature divide, according to Wright (2005)?
5. Could Miyazaki’s vision be described as in some sense religious (inasmuch as it conveys a sense of the sacred)?
6. Finally, with reference to Cavallaro (2006), what distinguishes Mononoke technically as being – it is generally agreed – a great work of anime?
1. I was a bit confused with this question but this is what I have come up with so please correct me if you have different answers than me.
Some of the underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke are the problematizes archetypes and icons, ranging from the notion of the emperor's untouchability to the traditional iconization of the feminine, to create a genuienly new vision of a Japan at the crossroads of history. The film also emphasizes loss, even privileges it. Although Princess Mononoke is not based on an acutal historical event, it belongs properly in a section on animation and history because, in its distinctive way, it is a meditation on Japanese history that provides a counternarrative to some pivotal myths of Japanese culture and soceity. Princess Mononoke is the highest grosing Japanese film (not just anime) of all time. Its appeal seems to extend to all parts of Japanese society, going beyond the typical family base of most Miyazaki films, despite its complex, ambigious and often dark text that calls into question many long held notions of Japanese identity. The theme of repudation and destruction returns to the notion of the abjected other touched upon at the beginning of this chapter. Certainly one of Miyazaki's major strategies in Princess Mononoke is to privilege a vision in which the abject revenge themselves. This is not an entirely original vision (another version appers in Akira).It is rather one that has lingered ont he boundaries of twentieth century Japanese culture and has undermined the dominant discourse of modernity and progress through the presentation of alternative visions tht privilege the irrational, the supernatural, adn the apocalyptic. Often these visions have been linked to women.
2. According to Napier (2005), the film defamiliarizes conventional notions of Japanese history through Miyazaki's decision to set the film during the foruteenth century Muromachi period and his subsequent subversion of conventional expectations concerning what a film set in that era should "be about". The period is usually considered to be an apex of Japanese high culture, when well known cultural products like the tea ceremony, Noh theater, adn Zen inspired landscape gardens reached their most brilliant form. It was also an era of relative peace, when the ruling Samurai class grew increasingly literate and refined as they settled in the Muromachi section of the capital city of Kyoto, te court aristocracy. Princess Mononoke however, takes plce in a mythical space deeply removed fromt eh cpital, noth literally and symbolically.
3. According to Napier (2005) anime problemative traditional or conservative construcation by the many of accpeted myths of Japanese culture. In keeping with Miyazaki's stirking ability to blend the "real" with the fantastic, princess Mononoke creates a world that appears to have some kind of historical basis but then consistently destabilizes audience expectations of how that world should be. Murase also suggestst that Miyazaki may be covertly playing with gender boundaries behind the screen of the nature/culture dichotomy. It is certainly true that all three female protagonists possess characteristics traditonally coded as male, and that, with the important exception of Ashitaka, there are no "male heroes" in the film. It is also possible to suggest that the use of females in conventionally male coded roles is another link within the films overall strategy of destabilization. By amking the character a women, and one who can both destroy and rebuild, teh film problematizes facile stereotyping of technology, armaments, adn industrializes clture as evil. The only thign I could find about race was 'finally it escapes from teh forest to attack the world of humans, in this case a clan in eastern Japan known as the Emishi (equate in notes to the film with the Non Japanese Ainu race) whose young lord, Ashitaka, ultimately manages to kill the boar'.
Also I found this when reading and thought it related to this question.
In contrast, Princess Mononoek refuses to sentimentalize the modieval history it highlighta, preferring to problematize the past and implicity the attitude towards it. Furthermore, altough his deception contains important fantasy elements, Miyazaki's decision to use a specific historical period is for reasons of education rather than escapism.
Thank you, Ashleigh. I always like to read your comments before I start mine; I find them all very helpful.
Based on some readings, we know that the movie is set during the Muromachi Era (1392-1573) in Japan. Normally, Japanese fims set in this era focus on the stock characters of the samurai warriors and feudal lords; but Miyazaki focus instead on working class people and artisans, and the 'raging animal gods' of the primal Japanese forests. The central conflict in this film is between the people who are slowly cutting into the forest in order to live and produce their goods and the animal gods who, angered by this, retaliate by attacking the encampment.
Miyazaki has put a lot of the thoughts and themes from the latter part of the manga Nausicaa into Mononoke Hime. Unlike the animated version of Nausicaa, Mononoke Hime does not define who is 'right' or 'wrong' in a conflict between man and nature. So, in this sense, Mononoke Hime can be thought of as a thematic or spiritual sequel to Miyazaki's film Nausicaa.
4. According to Wright (2005) Miyazaki addresses humanity and nature by spiritual themes that are present in all of his films to some extent including the Academy Award Winning Spirited Away (2001) and recently released Howl's moving castle (2005), his ealier more are more concerened with articulating the possibility at a mystical connection between humans and the natural world. His work displays a sense of nostalgio for a time when humans loved more in harmony with nature, but at the same time he reguses to deny the current relaity of modernity and industrialisation. Also, Miyazaki has delibrately chosen the temporal settting for Monomoke - the Muromachi era (1392-1573).Historians desvribe it as a time of great upheavel when the relationship between humanity and nature was radically changing in Japan. Miyazaki was not attempting historical realism in his deception of the era; rather, he appears to illustrate a power shift on the growing conflict between the natural world and newly industrialised humans. And so, it was the time when humans declared war on the Kamigami, the wild gods.
5. Miyazaki's vision of religion is not only out of respect for Kami but he uses these characters to represent. They also manifest ideas about a non-intellectual understanding of spirituality that divorces if from institutional religion per se. Miyazaki has decipted the spirits of the forest in various ways from the shishigami, which is a gentle giver and taker of life, to the active, violent wolf and boar dogs. But he believes his use of the Kodama was the most effective. The idea came to Miyazaki because he was interested in portraying a sense of the depth and the mystery, the friendliness and the awe-inspiringness of a froest, and so he came up with the idea of a Kodama. Miyazaki thinks you can draw all the huge, giant trees in the world that you want to. It wont have the same impact. And Miyazaki also wanted to chose a form that represented the liveness and the freedom and the innocence that a baby represents. And that is why Miyazaki chose that form. The sense of the mysterious at the heart of life, the desire to commune with it, and the willingness to express dependence, upon it is the roof from which all mythological expressions of religious experience spring. The way of the Kami thus arose in teh Japanese people of ancient times from their reverence for and pre-intellectual awareness of the structures of being that surronded them.
6. The exceptionally high number of cels produced for Mononoke (144,000 out of which approximately 80,000 were key animation cels) meant that its overall style of motion is substantially more fluid and realistic than one would expect of the average Japanese animation. Computer generated imagery contributed significantly to this cumulative effect by comminicating a sense of solidity and presence comparable to that achieved in live action cinema. The more distinctive things about the film is Miyazaki's unflattering commitment to the animation of its setting by recourse to an aesthitic that priorities the evocation of atmosphere. This is achieved through the consistent juttaposition of pastoral landscapes and outbreaks of violence endowed with eminetly visceral connotations as well as through the use of recurring images comparable to musical refrains such as foilage rustling in the wind or light refracting on water. The animation also benefits greatly from the directors refined sensitivity to the slightest nuances of animal movement. Although Studio Ghibli used CGI extensively in the production of Mononoke (indeed in more than one hundred cuts) the overall animation, much like the story's historical and cultural dimensions - consists of a harmonious blend of the traditional and the novel. The main digital techniques employed in Princess Mononoke are 3D Rendering, Morphing Particles, Digital Composition, Texture Mapping and Digital Painting.
Lastly I would just like to comment on the film we watched in class last Thursday.I think it was called 'Howl's Moving House". I really enjoyed watchign that movie and found it very interesting. I am not usually into watching anime movies and was expecting not to enjoy the movie and find it dull and boring. But I found it to be the complete opposite it was fun and I am now am very interested in the anime genre and want to see more of the movies like this..
What do you guys think about it???
Yes, I agree with you on Q6., Ashleigh.
There is no doubt that all the digital techniques employed in Princess Mononoke's visual is a brilliance that is immediately evident. But what sets Miyazaki's film apart from Disney fare is its mature subject matter and complex plot. Mononoke has rich themes: civilization versus nature, the struggle for peace over violence and makind's role in the world. Prince Mononoke is an epic tale of ancient Japanese folklore. Its adult themes are matched by scenes of bloody violence. But it's refreshing to watch an animated film that respects audiences' capability to grasp rich subject matter. The lesson Miyazaki is telling is not only about the environment, but the futility of selfisheness and single-mindedness. Princess Mononoke is a profound work of art, one whose soul lingers long after the end of the film itself. It is a treat for the eye and soul.
Some of the underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke are the problematizes archetypes and icons, ranging from the notion of the emperor's untouchability to the traditional iconization of the feminine, to create a genuienly new vision of a Japan at the crossroads of history.
2) I absolutely agree with the fact that the film defamiliarizes conventional notions of Japaneses history through Miyazaki’s decision. I also found out the fact that the period is considered to be an apex of Japanes high culture, when well known cultural products like the tea ceremony, Noh theatre Zen inspired landscape gardens reached their most brilliant form.
2) I absolutely agree with the fact that the film defamiliarizes conventional notions of Japaneses history through Miyazaki’s decision. I also found out the fact that the period is considered to be an apex of Japanes high culture, when well known cultural products like the tea ceremony, Noh theatre Zen inspired landscape gardens reached their most brilliant form.
3. In maintaining with Miyazaki's stirking ability to blend the "real" with the fantastic, princess Mononoke creates a world that appears to have some kind of historical basis but then consistently destabilizes audience expectations of how that world should be.
4. According to Wright (2005) Miyazaki addresses humanity and nature by spiritual themes that can be seen in all of his films and I also agree with the idea which have be announced that Howl's moving castle (2005), this is concerned with articulating the possibility at a mystical connection between humans and the natural world.
5. I agree with Ashley how she said that “Miyazaki's vision of religion is not only out of respect for Kami but he uses these characters to represent” I believe that Miyazaki has depicted the spirits of the forest in different ways from the shishigami, which is a gentle giver and taker of life, to the active, violent wolf and boar dogs.
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