The Tale of Princess Kaguya – Movie Review by Frank L.

Directed by Isao Takahata

Writers: Isao Takahata (story), Isao Takahata (screenplay)
Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen

This is the latest offering and possibly one of the last from Studio Ghibli, the renowned Japanese studio of the animated picture. It is the story of a bamboo cutter, who while working away at his daily grind, finds within a bamboo, a beautiful small baby girl. He calls her Takenoko and she grows up in a rural idyll which also includes a young man Sutemaru. However the bamboo cutter has dreams that Takenoko is destined for greatness and brings her to the capital to make her into the princess he believes she is. Her name becomes Princess Kaguya. She is astoundingly beautiful and has a variety of important suitors who have to undergo various trials in order to be able to take her hand. Yet she yearns for her more simple past, her time with Sutemaru and even for what had transpired before her discovery in the bamboo.

While there is a subtitled version, this screening was dubbed with the original Japanese actors substituted for American ones.  It is possible that such a transformation alters the magic of the story and its revelation. Undoubtedly it is beautifully drawn with spare, dynamic strokes. The sparsity of the lines certainly make the world in which Takenoko lives a bucolic gem and the big city has a calm sense of opulence. But the succession of suitors each take quite a considerable amount of time to press their claims. No amount of highly skilled drawing can obviate the need for the story to move forward with a greater amount of alacrity. Once the story loses its ability to engage, it is hard to rekindle enthusiasm for the final section of the film.