Studio Gibli strikes again with this mesmerizing and astonishing folk tale of a girl learning that living life to please others is not the safe way to happiness. Especially when you do it against your character, your beliefs and most of all, your heart.
The Tale of Princess Kaguya is based on a 10th century folk tale “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”. It’s the coming of age story of a girl found in the woods by an old bamboo cutter, who takes her home, and raises her, along with his wife, as if she is their own. They know right from the start that she’s an unusual child, and they name her Hime (Princess). Hime grows faster than anything they’ve seen before and the kids from the village nickname her “Lil’ Bamboo”. She’s a joyous child. She laughs and runs and sings with her friends, enjoying the simple and yet beautiful life countryside has to offer. The bamboo cutter gets rewarded by the forest with gold and elegant kimonos, making him believe that the gods want Hime to live a royal life. He builds her a big house in the capital and takes her away from the village, while his wife, fearful and hesitant, agrees.
Her beauty attracts many men from around the country to profess their love for her. The old royal name giver who named her Princess Kaguya, spreads the news of her divine appearance to higher powers, which makes them rush to ask for her hand, promising that they will treasure her and love her, comparing her to imaginative yet unrealistic objects. Princess Kaguya, already feeling the pressure of her new position in the Japanese society, asks them to bring her these fine and mystical objects, to their desperation. They spent 3 years, traveling along the land, to come back with manufactured items which she puts to the test. The news of Princess Kaguya making fool of the best 5 men of the country, reaches the Emperor’s ears. He wants her to live in his palace which she refuses and when he comes to see her, she escapes his embrace, triggering a plea for help to the sky.
The film contains many fantastic scenes, making us realize and feel the Princess’s pain as a royal subject. She flees from her own banquet back to the small village in the mountains, trying to find her childhood friends, especially a boy with whom she bonded as a toddler. She accepts with a heavy soul, her eye brows to be removed and her teeth blackened only after she realizes that there’s no turning back. She must accept the life her father wants her to have. She finds refuge in her mother’s room, where she weaves and helps her mother in making thread. She even makes the small garden in the back to resemble her childhood village.
The Tale of Princess Kaguya is a a cautionary tale of the burden the parents tend to put on their children shoulders. Superbly told through breathtaking drawings, realistic characters and outstanding soundtrack, we grow and suffer along with the main protagonist’s struggles to please everyone around her, except herself. And we learn that finding happiness in the smallest of places is the only happiness we need.
I haven’t seen a movie this perfect in years! And I’m not exaggerating. Everything, from the smallest brush stroke to the emotional evolution of the main character, is perfect. The unique and poetic style in which the story is developing in front of our hungry eyes, is making us witness an instant classic. In the years to come, The of Princess Kaguya will take place on the top of the list of movies made by Studio Gibli. The Japanese have set the standard for animation, for years now, and with this beautiful, breathtaking, and truly touching tale of humanity, they have done it again.