Word: princess
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Indonesia is still in a very delicate state of recovery. It has passed its first democratic test, but it faces enormous economic problems, and its sense of self is fragmented at best. The eccentric pairing of the blind cleric and the mute princess will not enjoy a long honeymoon...
...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...
...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...
...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...
...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...