Princess Mononoke
last night I watched a manga film with celine and joao, 'princess mononoke' (Hayao Miyazaki); incredibly beautifully designed and imaginative anime, which draws on japanese shinto spirituality. This is the story of a young prince warrior who has been cursed on slaying a demon, and must journey in exile to the spirit forest, where the demon originated from as a boar god. the forest is at war with the village, an iron forge intent on stripping the forest of its resources. the prince hijikato (?) struggles with the demon, the poison of hatred, that is infected within him, whilst trying to bridge the ignorance of the people and find resolution. It is a wonderful tale of flexible morality, where gods are fallible to weakness as much as humans, where there is always room for breakthroughs in understanding and growth.
browsing the net, i came across some interesting anime/manga sites;
one an essay with good links, on anime and environmentalism - the clash of old and new world is something i've come across often in my readings of Japanese art and culture . . . nature and its transformations, its subtleties, is indeed deeply rooted in the Japanese soul, the traditions, the world view and is reflected in every aspect of its culture, through its architecture, theatre, dance, art, yet the modern world and technologies that rapidly encroach on ancient landscapes, both physical and metaphorical, introduce intense challenges to these roots - it is a familiar story, and i think brings up many important questions to grapple with, on issues of conservation, progress, on how the essential vein of life can be carried through and animate a rapidly evolving world. now that is a challenge we all have to face, like Alice in Wonderland, to keep our heads when all around us are losing their's . . .
The other has downloads of music videos that Carlos Coral (Machine of Mindwarp entertainments) has edited from various anime (including 'princess mononoke') to the music of system of a down, nine inch nails, Korn, among others. They are good, though I think he gets a bit overexcited with fade-outs and strobe imagery which i reckon are better n more effective in smaller doses, still he has an eye for rhythm, and it gives a taste of some of the films artworks that he borrows from.
if you know of any others then let me know (good sites, films, etc) . . .
browsing the net, i came across some interesting anime/manga sites;
one an essay with good links, on anime and environmentalism - the clash of old and new world is something i've come across often in my readings of Japanese art and culture . . . nature and its transformations, its subtleties, is indeed deeply rooted in the Japanese soul, the traditions, the world view and is reflected in every aspect of its culture, through its architecture, theatre, dance, art, yet the modern world and technologies that rapidly encroach on ancient landscapes, both physical and metaphorical, introduce intense challenges to these roots - it is a familiar story, and i think brings up many important questions to grapple with, on issues of conservation, progress, on how the essential vein of life can be carried through and animate a rapidly evolving world. now that is a challenge we all have to face, like Alice in Wonderland, to keep our heads when all around us are losing their's . . .
The other has downloads of music videos that Carlos Coral (Machine of Mindwarp entertainments) has edited from various anime (including 'princess mononoke') to the music of system of a down, nine inch nails, Korn, among others. They are good, though I think he gets a bit overexcited with fade-outs and strobe imagery which i reckon are better n more effective in smaller doses, still he has an eye for rhythm, and it gives a taste of some of the films artworks that he borrows from.
if you know of any others then let me know (good sites, films, etc) . . .
posted by tara at 4:23 pm
5 Comments:
Hey girl,
Sorry I've been such a ghost, I just moved into a new place so it took a while to get back online -- the good news is I check the site and see you've been writing like CRAZY, which is awesome! I love having new cool stuff to read.
Mononoke is a fantastic film, top to bottom. The same director put out one a few years later called "Spirited Away" which tells of some other aincent legends (although it changes them around a bit and mixed up the actual message in an annoying way) -- but nonetheless it's a beautiful and funny little film.
There's a lot of great stuff out there to check out. I'm by no means an expert, but I try to keep up with it as much as I can.
Hope all is well!
ps - thanks for the Ivor Cutler- it's fantastic!!!
(1) :) Good to have you back online! I was wondering when you might return to virtuality! about the boogers thing, never developed a taste for it myself, but... milie and i were talking the other day about how the advantage of working at home instead of in the library (aside from intravenous coffee supplies) is that we can stick our fingers wherever we like without witness or judgement! lol . . . (the disadvantages however are manifold, eg. it's not a library, has not quite as many books, but a miriad of inane distractions...)so at least your kid disposes of them efficiently (I wonder if i'd collected all the boogers of my life into a ball how big would it be now?)
(2) So glad you like cutler. pleased as punch :o)
(3) Is it the red floorboards? sounded like a winner to me.
(4) I've seen spirited away - didn't realise it was the same director, but makes perfect sense ...
ok enough with the numbers. all is well, though hectic trying to multi-task ideas into something coherent enough for essay(s) purposes. challenging and looking for a miracle which i guess i'll have to create myself :o) though each step brings a little more optimism (not too much or i get lazy!)
but just enough to give me strength ! ;op
knock knock... anybody home?
haha you can't imagine how appropriate that question is! just given a disastrous group presentation on the concept of home in contexts of culture and performance. now want to bury myself in a hole for a week and reemerge yesterday!
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