Oscar Nominations
Best Animated Feature
It can sometimes be easy to forget that Hayao Miyazaki is
not Studio Ghibli’s only brilliant director, particularly when those other directors
have infrequent, sporadic output. Case
in point: Isao Takahata, probably best known for Grave of the Fireflies, i.e., the film that destroyed my innocence
forever. Horrifying and utterly
heartbreaking, his most renowned work if perhaps one of the best animated films
of all time, a testament to animation’s ability to tell compelling and
emotionally gripping stories. And now,
over fifteen years since his last film, Takahata has directed and produced The Tale of Princess Kaguya, a tale that
only further cements his legacy as one of the greats of Japanese animation.
This story is based on a millennium-old Japanese folk tale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, though to
use its original title would be misleading as to the film’s focus. The folk tale’s titular bamboo cutter one day
discovers a royal spirit within a bamboo stalk.
It transforms into an infant, which he takes home to raise with his
wife. The infant grows at a vastly
accelerated rate, becoming a toddler and eventually a small child in only a
matter of days. Meanwhile, the bamboo cutter
discovers gold in another bamboo stalk, and takes it as a sign that he must
take the child to the capitol to be raised as royalty, as that is how heaven
wishes her to achieve happiness.
If this sounds to you like a tale of wish-fulfillment akin
to a Cinderella story, you would only be half-right. The core of this tale comes from this being
the bamboo cutter’s wish, not the child’s, who is eventually named Kaguya. Kaguya is a victim of her birthright, pulled
away from a childhood that was over too soon and forced to grow up amongst a
royal society where she is treated as nothing more than an object to be admired
and lusted after. It is a commentary on
the treatment of women as baubles, but is also a story of a lonely young woman,
pulled away from an emotionally rich and full life to a materially rich and so-called “better” one. Much of this is expressed wordlessly and
visually, and when the film decides to stop building up and deliver its
powerfully gut-wrenching tragedies, it could very well leave you on the verge
of tears. (I am not ashamed to admit
that I shed more than a few.)
All of this is accentuated by a gorgeous art direction that
emulates the charcoal and oil painting artistry of the film’s time period. In a time when computer generated puppets
dominate the animated film industry, it is incredibly refreshing to see
hand-drawn animation with such a rich attention to detail. Every frame is gorgeous, which makes the
emotional impact all the more visceral, whether in the film’s highest or lowest
moments.
Given that The Lego
Movie is mysteriously absent from the Oscar nominees and Disney has a
near-monopoly on Best Animated Picture awards, I wouldn’t be surprised if this
film lost out to Big Hero 6 at
Sunday’s awards. However, for whatever
my opinion is worth, The Tale of Princess
Kaguya is undoubtedly the best of the nominees in its category. Takahata may have a limited legacy, but when
he produces something, he ensures that it is a masterpiece.
Did Grave of the
Fireflies cause you to tear up just a little? May more than a little? Leave your confessions in the comments below.
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