When Hayao Miyazaki first established Studio Ghibli, he went on making classics and touching cinema like Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Both displays great concern for human nature and both deals with a catastrophic problem that may endanger humankind itself.
But there is one masterpiece that came out of Studio Ghibli and was directed by Miyazaki himself: the famous story of Princess Mononoke or Mononoke Hime that came out in 1997.
Studio Ghibli itself is famous nowadays for its warm and subtle touches on human emotion – with a scent of surreal and magical storytelling. Its most famous product is Spirited Away, directed by Miyazaki himself and prevailed to win an Oscar from the Academy Awards for best animated film in 2003. Since then, Studio Ghibli is all over the world – with their breakthrough international exhibition held in Jakarta, Indonesia on August until September 2017.
Now, Mononoke Hime did not won an Oscar – but it displays more than merely an award.
The story took place in an alternate world, where human and nature live side by side in harmony. The animals themselves are more than normal – talking boars are prevalent, and the presence of the forest spirit is no longer spooky. Yet, there was another force that changed the state of harmony – a powerful lady that mines the erath for gunpowder called Lady Eboshi. Since Lady Eboshi mines the earth and scattered the boar’s habitat, the boars then rammed the castle made by her – and by all means, she defended her castle and her subordinates. Here is where Princess Mononoke came in: raised by wolves, believes that she is a wolf herself, and wants to kill Lady Eboshi for ruining the ecosystem. Meanwhile, a brave and strong young man called Ashitaka got huddled up in between the war, and prevailed to help Mononoke and Eboshi to make peace with each other.
As every person who read the synopsys of the film will think that Eboshi is the real evil in the work. Yet, it was the contrary – inside her castle, she hired prostitutes and outcasts to work for her, giving a better dignity and a safer place to work. She even hires people who have colera and soon die in a special place to work on such high technological weaponary. In such a way, Lady Eboshi is mining the earth – but at the same time, giving life to others.
Princess Mononoke is the same. She believes that the forest must be defended at all cost – or the Deer Spirit will be enraged at purges the castle for good. Yet, Mononoke did not prevail to kill her, or burn the castle to the ground, for the Deer Spirit had spare his rage, in regards of Ashitaka’s gentle effort.
Miyazaki always pushes the boundaries of human nature to a certain point, where all his characters never resemble right or wrong, nor kind or evil. He simpy displays every character as it is: raged by sadness, envious by matter, sorrowful by heart, and anxious by fear. Every character resembles the true nature of mankind, that in reality, is far much closer to the truth.
Even so, the relevance of the war between nature and mankind has never been so on point. Human is taking it all by account for exploiting mother nature to improve the lives of human – but at the same time, slowly digesting the sweet nectars of earth while not knowing that it would soon destroy the very place they call home.
In the end, Mononoke made peace with Eboshi, and Eboshi made peace with nature – with every subordinates still is loyal to her. It is not just an epic story of nature and man – it is a story of how life will be (not how it should be). War had plagued our species for thousands of years, and it will never stop happening. But still, in the end, with the right people and the right purpose, a time of peace can be achieved – as long as everyone keep their ego aside, and let the nature do her bidding.