Princess Mononke is a 1997 epic, a Japanese animated historical-fantasy feature-film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. In fact, “Mononoke” is a general Japanese term for a spirit or monster.

This drama set in the late Muromachi period has many fantastic elements. The story involves the role of outsider Ashitaka in a struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans of Iron Town who consume its resources. There is no “good” or “evil”, sympathies keep switching and no clear victory emerges. The hope is that relationships between humans and nature are cyclic.

Princess Mononoke earned 11.3 billion yen in distribution receipts. It became a Japanese submission for an Academy Award and received critical acclaim.

Hong Kong's Culture Club Gallery will screen this film (in Japanese with English subtitles) at 8 p.m. on July 12.

Culture Club Gallery
Central, Hong Kong

(July 10, 2011)


Humans and nature: sympathy shifts.

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