Princess Mononoke is often seen as a film that is very anti-industrial and concerned with the preservation of nature. While these environmental viewings are valid and important, the characters, their conflicts, and the resolution cannot be contained to that single theme. This movie endeavors to display a more complex relationship with nature than singularly environmental reading offers. It is a film that is ultimately about existing in between. I will discuss the idea of being in between in both the context of the protagonist Ashitaka’s position between humans and nature, as displayed in Miyazaki’s fantasy masterpiece. This position is best seen in the characters and their relationships, starting first with the opposing sides. The hero of the human side is the Lady Eboshi. She is the leader of Irontown, an industrial people who strip away the forest to mine for iron. The opposition of Irontown are the god and spirits of the forest, mighty creatures who are remnants from ancient times. Chief among them is the wolf god Moro, and her three children. One of these children is a human though, adopted by Moro when she was abandoned by her parents. This child is San, who as Moro describes is neither human nor wolf. San fights fiercely for the forest and hates humans. This sentiment changes through the course of the movie as Ashitaka appears, a figure in between these two diametrically opposed forces, and pulls both sides inwards. Ashitaka comes to Irontown in search of the answer to a mysterious curse upon him, but rather cures the curse upon the land.
The Lady Eboshi is strong, confident, and protective of her people. She has more courage than any man in this feudally inspired setting. She is intelligent, cunning, and brought Irontown to prominence. Furthermore, she has a compassion that most didn’t in this world. After Ashitaka heroically returns a pair of Irontown workers who had been hurt on the road back to Irontown in an attack carried out by Moro, Lady Eboshi invites her back into her private garden. Here Ashitaka learns that Lady Eboshi took in and cared for lepers who had been abandoned by the world. Lady Eboshi is one the strongest and most complete female characters in one of Miyazaki’s movies, which do not lack for strong female characters. Casting Lady Eboshi as a villain is too simple. While her goals oppose that of San’s and Ashitaka’s, they are not necessarily evil.
While perhaps Lady Eboshi is not evil, she is dangerous. Her strength and ability mean that her will can be indomitable. This means trouble for the spirits of the forest and San. San is portrayed as very wolf-like to begin with, a ferocious combatant of Irontown and its people. Slowly she becomes more human as she interacts with Ashitaka. The opposition of the two sides is best seen when San attempts to assassinate Lady Eboshi. San raids Irontown, scaling its palisades and running along the rooftops. When her and Lady Eboshi finally clash, the battle is savage and quick. Ashitaka makes his way into the battle, with slow and purposeful movements. He immediately comes between them holds them apart. This shot is the heart of the story. San and Lady Eboshi stand in front of each other, hating the other with complete venom, and Ashitaka stands between them, trying to stop the violence. The magic of Ashitaka’s curse swirls around him, as he shouts to the townspeople, crying for peace. The framing of the image perfectly represent Ashitaka’s position in the story. He is the man in between the two sides who will bring them together.
Ashitaka’s curse visually represents violence through the film. The purple taint spreads across his body, and grows stronger when he fights. When he stands between Lady Eboshi and San, it is at its visual greatest. The original purpose that brought him to Irontown was seeking a cure for the curse. This purpose becomes secondary as he learns of the conflict between the forest and Irontown. Throughout the whole movie, Ashitaka does not take a side. Many times he espouses that his entire goal is to stop the conflict. This is seen in how the movie ends. At first appearance San and Lady Eboshi seem as if the other would need to die in order for there to be an end. It feels destined that one must die, and yet, Ashitaka prevents this from happening. In this way, Ashitaka exists in between. He embodies a role of duality, not fighting for any side, but trying to stop the conflict. In this way Miyazaki creates a story that is not surmised by a purely environmental reading. It offers a more complex look at the conflict between industrial humanity and the environment, that seeks to stop violence between the two rather than justify one side.
Eric's Words 