World renowned animated feature-film director Hayao Miyazaki can do it all. We’ve seen him pull off giant fuzzy cats named Totoro and adorable 13-year-old witches-in-training named Kiki—but a majority of Miyazaki’s filmography includes much emphasis on themes like environmentalism, anti-war, the importance of childhood, and even feminism. In Princess Mononoke, we’re introduced to a prince infected with a terminal disease who is in search of a cure. He finds himself caught between the creatures of the forest (led by the film’s title character) and the priorities of a nearby town. It’s a tale of the struggle between humanity, nature and the threat of technology. Take caution though; don’t mix this up with Disney or even My Neighbor Totoro —there’s realistic violence, blood and death throughout this PG-13 film. Either way, let’s just hope this screening will be shown in its original Japanese and not the dubbed English version featuring the voice talents of Billy Bob Thornton (and Claire Danes and Minnie Driver). Disney was forbidden from editing even a single cell of animation—so the dubbed version ended up looking a bit like an early episode of Iron Chef.
Sat., May 9, 1:30 p.m., 2009
