Caught Up

It's been two weeks since I last wrote and a very certain spring has appeared in Berkeley. This and midterms kept me from writing about Porco Rosso. I think I like it less now that I have written extensively about it. I wonder if I will like it more when I come back to it later. The way time affects the viewing of a piece of art is very interesting. Of course all context is crucially important when viewing art but elapsed time in between viewings makes me think about memory and how our psyche's are constantly in flux.

More importantly, I thought about blogging because I've been thinking a lot about Princess Mononoke. I decided to test Alex's maxim, that "writing helps express our latent thoughts," although I have long agreed with this sentiment sometimes it's tough to get around to. Now that the weather is fine and I can sit and write in my hammock I thought it about time that I explore Princess Mononoke and Feenburg in a more structured way. Thoughts can be too free form and ambiguous.

I was shocked and intregued by Princess Mononoke. I was very surprised that over $20 Million was spent on CGI. I guess I didn't even think about most of the technical aspects until now. As I think back upon the film I remember it as moving very quickly. I think some of this was because of the investment in CGI. Alex mentioned that CGI was used in the creation of the demon worm-like creatures that sprout from Nago and the other King Boar (Ostakka).

Princess Mononoke was different for me because I didn't often identify with the female protagonist, San, like I usually do in Miyazaki's films.San doesn't fly, or behave in a kind human way most of the time. The end of the film was deeply unsatisfying and frustrating. I really wanted there to be a love story. Or perhaps there is a love story but it is unreconciled. There aren't really any romantic relationships in Miyazaki's films but they all seem to have the potential to be so. I guess he is the master of keeping our attention with expectations that are not fufilled. I don't know how he gets away with it. Well in this movie it seems he wants to make it a little sad at the end which is understandable for the sake of it being a serious movie about the consequences of human action and not a silly romantic story. I guess he puts the "message" of his films before the comfort of his viewer.



I think this film was a very clear break from his other films. While it contains some of the same stylistic and theme choices it is very different in content and character creation. While he considered the plot for this film in 1980 it was not released in America until the mid-1990's.

I wonder if there was a tension in his mind between this movie being a historical representation of folklore and mythology for profit and his own personal ecological message. I haven't read anything yet that suggests this but I do see it as possible that he put the ecological message in the framework of the historical context because he thought the larger population of Japan would be more likely to watch the mythological, historical context with open eyes, hearts and ears.

Kiki and Jiji

The clocktower in Kiki's delivery service reminded me of Castle Cologistro. The keeping track of time and being young are very important in both films. They both reference a distant history; Castle Cologistro goes back to Roman times and Kiki's mom references the thosands of years witches have been wearing black. Both films are confronting tradition, and how to remake traditions to be the character's own. It is obvious that if the princess in CC had accepted her past she would have been a morally bad character. In this film Kiki has to figure out a way to support herself when she is too young for society to recognize her as independent. As a witch she is fufilling an age old tradition in a new modern era. This type of moral imperative is also place on the princess in CC. While the princess in CC is very passive and must be "saved" by the thief Kiki has her own adventures. Kiki does have a lot of help, and many close friends but they seem to be there as secondary characters witnessing her growth and aiding her on her way to full witchood.