An old man makes a living by selling bamboo. One day, he finds a princess in a bamboo. The princess is only the size of a finger. Her name is Kaguya. When Kaguya grows up, 5 men from prestigious families propose to her. Kaguya asks the men to find memorable marriage gifts for her, but the 5 men are unable to find what Kaguya wants. Then, the Emperor of Japan proposes to her.
Once again a new Studio Ghibli film has made it to western shores, and I dare to say that this is one of their best one yet. For the first time in ages, Hayao Miyazaki is not the director, but Isao Takahata, who made Grave of the Fireflies (1988) and Pom Poko (1994). Here, Takahata has based his film on one of Japan's oldest folktales: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, where a baby girl is discovered inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant and is said to be from Tsuki-no-Miyako ("The Capital of the Moon"). The film is rich with Japanese customs and culture and overall feels like a love letter to nature.
There's not much in this film not worth praising, the art style is very distinctive and beautiful, and there's a certain scene where Kaguya runs as fast as she can and flees out into the wild where it's drawn with such perfection and with very violent lines. This film shows an amazing love for traditional animation in a world where CGI has become a standard, and that's extremely endearing to me.
Joe Hisaishi, who composed the score for Studio Ghibli-films such as Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2001), is also back with full force and has written one of his best soundtracks ever (maybe the best?). The story is equally magical and juggles family values, ancient teachings, the importance of home and loss. So basically this film has every quality of a Studio Ghibli-masterpiece, but I'm very sad that this is most probably Takahata's last film. At least he finished amazingly strong, and gave us one hell of a breathtakingly beautiful movie.
1. Pom Poko (1994)
2. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
3. Porco Rosso (1992)
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