The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata)

[Henry Gale]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/TheTaleofThePrincessKaguya_US_ poster.jpg/640px-TheTaleofThePrincessKaguya_US_ poster.jpg

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2576852/) / Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_The_Princess_Kaguy a_%28film%29) / Letterboxd (http://letterboxd.com/film/the-tale-of-the-princess-kaguya/)

[Spinal]

It's amusing to watch American animators throw themselves into knots coming up with convoluted solutions to modernizing princess stories (such as Brave or Frozen). They try to have their cake and eat it too, creating characters that occupy the world of fairy tales and yet sometimes speak with dialogue that sounds influenced by articles from HuffPost Women. By contrast, this film is so graceful and poignant, speaking to contemporary concerns about the burdens of femininity with a rich tale that has the power of myth. There was a point towards the end where I felt the place where an American film would have doubled back for a crowd-pleasing ending. And it was thrilling to realize that this Japanese film team was not bound by such pressures and expectations. The animation style evokes a storybook and there are moments in which the emotional context of the tale alters the form of expression. It's exhilarating when it happens. But mostly this film works because it is able to succinctly capture the truth around how one young girl is cherished, idolized, manipulated and misunderstood by those around her.

[Philip J. Fry]

Agreed with the post above. Truly a wonderful film.

[megladon8]

This was heart wrenching.

Haven't cried like that in a while.