Mononoke on the Horizon: Will the 'Princess' survive a precarious translation?

Every now and then a movie appears on the horizon, sending streaks of a false dawn through the sky long before the actual appearance of the film; Princess Mononoke is that sort of movie. It was the highest grossing film in Japan when it was released in 1997 (to be replaced, tragically, by Titanic, and bootleg copies have been circulating though North America for years.) The big screen debut in America has been completely unlike that of any other foreign animated film; touting the voices of stars like Gilian Anderson, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Billy Bob Thornton, Princess Mononoke is destined to be the break-though film for Japanimation in America.

Regardless of the Hollywood roster, Princess Mononoke will still astound even seasoned anime fans. Hayao Miyazaki, writer and director of Princess Mononoke, is among the most celebrated directors of Japanese anime. Mononoke Hime, as it is called in Japan, takes place in the Muromanchi era, and begins in a remote Emishi village under attack from a Tartari Gemi, or "curse god", who curses Ashitaka, the last descendant of the Emishi royal house. In reality the last Emishi village had been taken over by the Japanese empire long before the Muromanchi era; the threat of the Emishi's extinction introduces one of Princess Mononoke's major themes--that of threatened ways of life. Ashitaka goes on a journey to find where the Tartari Gemi came from--specifically to find what or who created the iron slug he finds in the Tartari Gemi's corpse. Eventually, he discovers a group of iron-workers destroying an ancient forest and killing its gods. He also meets Princess Mononoke, a human girl raised by Moro, a Wolf Goddess, who is engaged in a war with the humans of the ironworks. Miyazaki refuses to let the situation become too simple; by somewhat contrived means it becomes clear that the ironworkers are not evil, and the animal gods not entirely good. Though there are quite a few important characters none is flat, and Neil Gaiman's dialogue is simply brilliant. The plot, screenwriting and premise of Princess Mononoke is higher caliber than most films churned out of Hollywood.

Animation frees directors of the difficulties actors present, giving the director nearly complete control of their performances. At the opening of Princess Mononoke, for example, Ashitaka, the future leader of an Emishi village, defends his village from a Tartari Gemi, an enormous creature covered with snakelike tentacles that destroys everything in its path. No creature shop in Hollywood today could create a Tartari Gemi as convincingly weird as that drawn by Shinji Otsuka, Hiroshi Shimizu, and the other animators. To hear a low, gravelly human voice issue from the monster is almost as frighteningly intriguing as his words: "Filthy humans. Know my pain and hatred."

Animation also enables Miyazaki to use an incredibly large cast, including a forest full of spirits that bear a remarkable resemblance to the ubiquitous slanty-eyed alien, but whose chubby cuteness is endearing. Sweeping vistas of mountains, forested and deforested, are perfectly rendered, making it easy to forget that they were drawn. In the hands of a director as talented as Miyazaki animation can create a vivid dream world that engages the viewer completely.

Unfortunately, the use of famous voices to attract general audiences in America degrades the brilliance of what is, on its own, a wonderful film, and interferes with the creation of a captivating fantasy. Several of the vocal performances are wonderful, such as Billy Crudup as Ashitaka and Gillian Anderson as Moro the Wolf Goddess. Crudup is entirely believable, sounding in turn appropriately brave, vulnerable, and kind. Gillian Anderson's voice is altered here, designed to sound more godlike (the effect succeeds). Her growling tones are menacing and eerie, and her Moro is as intelligently complex as many of the human characters. Others, however, are slightly weird--particularly Minnie Driver's voice-over as Lady Eboshi. Driver's Eboshi is commanding, complex, and fascinating. She delivers her lines with such complete conviction it is hard to believe that the celluloid Eboshi has no voice of her own. But strangely, Driver's voice is obviously British, and Lady Eboshi is clearly not. Using British actors to play "upper classes" is fairly common in American film but is incredibly distracting when the characters are not supposed to be American or British. Coincidental or not, Driver's accent is a somewhat jarring reminder that Princess Mononoke has been altered for American audiences. Similarly, Jada Pinkett-Smith's distinctive voice sounds a little strange emerging from a Japanese prostitute turned iron-worker, and Billy Bob Thornton, as an oddly violent monk is almost too bizarre for belief.

All of these performers, however, manage to make their roles their own. Except Claire Danes, who in the title role is nothing short of a great detriment to the film. Even if the viewer does not recognize her as Angela from "My So-Called Life" or Juliet from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, her voice is absolutely grating. Princess Mononoke is a poor translation of Mononoke Hime, which more literally means "Spirit/Monster/Ghost Princess"--there is nothing remotely spiritual, monstrous or ghostly about Danes' Princess Mononoke. While her behavior and lines present Princess Mononoke as a tough, dangerous, furious woman, she sounds like a whiny teenager. When she first appears in the film wearing a strange mask and riding the back of a giant wolf, fighting acrobatically with Eboshi's warriors, Princess Mononoke inspires awe. When she appears next, sucking the blood from her brother-wolf's wound, she is terrifying. When she looks at Ashitaka and says, "Get out," she is laughable. Fortunately, Princess Mononoke spends more time rushing into battle or hand-to-hand combat than talking.

Despite the problems the Western cast presents, Princess Mononoke is a phenomenal film. It deals with issues of environmental degradation, social progress, repressed minorities, and real-world implications of spirituality. Each benefit of animation is exploited, and the drawbacks minimized. The star-studded cast will almost certainly draw in a larger audience than anime has ever known in the United States, and neither devoted fan nor newcomer will leave Princess Mononoke disappointed.