Released in the UK on 20 March, The tale of princess Kaguya is the
latest offering from Japan’s most famous family animation film studio, Studio Ghibli.
As Japan’s answer to Disney, Ghibli is known for offering audiences gripping tales with stunning animation, such as Spirited Away (2001) and My Neighbour Totoro (1988).
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| The official film poster |
With fantastically intricate
hand-drawn animation and whimsical characters, The tale of princess Kaguya, which was a decade in the making, has
already raked in $24,149,665
worldwide to date. It has also won a total of seven awards, including Best
Animation Feature Film at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards and
Best Animated Feature at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards. It was
also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 87th
Academy Awards (the Oscars), losing out to Disney’s Big Hero 6.
Directed by
Isao Takahata, best known for his fantasy films with an air of expressionism, The tale of princess Kaguya, is a movie
that stays with you long after you leave the cinema. It captures the imagination,
no matter your age, but strikes a chord with parents who want the very best for
their children in particular.
Based on the folktale The tale of the bamboo cutter, the film focuses on a poor, ageing bamboo cutter named Sanuki no Miyatsuko, (played by Takeo Chii and James Caan of Elf (2003) for the English dub) who unearths a miniature girl (voiced by Aki Aadkura and Chloe Grace Moretz in the English dub) inside a glowing bamboo shoot. Believing her to be a divine presence, Miyatsuko and his wife decide to raise her as their own, calling her Princess.
The girl mystically and sporadically grows, earning her the nickname from other children in the village ‘Takenoko’, which means Little Bamboo in Japanese. The ‘princess’ takes a particular liking to Sutemaru (voiced by Kengo Kora and Glee’s Darren Criss for the English dub), an older boy she becomes friends with.
When Miyatsuko comes across gold and fine cloth in bamboo in the same way he found his daughter, he believes it has been proven the princess’ divine royalty. He consequentially forces her to move into a mansion in the capital in an attempt to uphold a lifestyle fit for a princess.
It is this occurrence that will cause audiences to disassociated themselves with the father, given his harsh and brash approach towards his daughter. Particularly as the princess begins to become somewhat unhinged whilst attempting to please her father by becoming a noblewoman with the help of an uptight governess.
When she comes of age, the protagonist is given the formal name Princess Kagua, meaning ‘shining light’, and seems to have been put out by the incomprehensible demands of her father.
Beautiful and sad in equal measure, the story
leads to a startling ending to say the least, but is clearly lovingly crafted. It's
not an event-packed tale, given its running time of more than two hours, but
some how, The tale of princess Kagua does
not outstay its welcome. The fact that much of the movie is hand-drawn in watercolours reflects the gorgeous detail it evokes, and transports the audience back to the yesteryear of animation.
Although it takes a good few minutes for the average film-goer to get to grips with the free-hand style of the film, it charms you in a way you may not expect.
With themes of love and morality, and a strong heroine, The tale of princess Kagua is a slightly dark but sumptuous feast for the eyes with a dainty yet contorted story. The ending ultimately lets it down but it’s a film that’s rough around the edges in all the best ways.
3/5
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lDrkokymLQ
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