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Directed by none other than the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke was one of the highest grossing films in the history of Japan. The story is set in an ancient country where animal gods and humans live side by side, although not necessarily in harmony. A young prince, Ashitaka, is cursed when he kills a boar god threatening his village. Searching for the cure to his potentially fatal affliction, he stumbles across a town in turmoil. The inhabitants are trying to mine the soil for iron, which requires destroying a nearby forest in the process. Unfortunately, the forest is home to many animals, including a wolf clan, which fights against the humans viciously to protect their habitat. A member of the clan is a girl named San who supports the animals’ cause fiercely at first, but starts to question her motives when she meets Ashitaka.
Rather than degenerating into a pat pro-environmentalist fable, though, Princess Mononoke explores both sides of the conflict. The people in the town are portrayed as outcasts struggling to sustain themselves, with the forest as their only means of wealth. Does preserving the environment really take precedence over the human instinct to survive? It is left up to the audience to decide.
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