The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Isao Takahata

The whole film is in this style, as an example. I think this is just a screengrab they decided would make a good poster. They were right.

From the moment it bursts onto screen, Princess Kaguya has a fairy tale sensibility. The visuals look like they jumped straight out of a story book, and the narration only compounds this. And despite it being visible to these Western eyes, it still felt very Japanese. The art is similar to that of the classic Japanese paintings (does anyone know what that's called?), and it was based on the first written Japanese story (extant, anyway).

 Isao Takahata expertly uses character to weave a cunning satire around class in Japan (which I assume is similar to class in the UK: that is, ridiculous). The Princess' father is constantly putting on airs, stopping her from tending to her garden (not a metaphor). At one point, Kaguya screams out in frustration that a "noble princess isn't human!" It's really her defiance that puts light on the whole satire-after all, there have been plenty of films that treat the trappings of nobility as completely normal and, indeed, good.

Something I noticed was that the film was very frank around nudity. People were nude when they would be in real life, and it seemed right. Sometimes it demonstrated maternal instincts and at other times, Kaguya's wild nature.

The film did seem a little overlong (two hours is a little too much for such a simple plot) during the prince scenes, though it didn't really drag. It could have done with being trimmed down a few suitors, but apart from that, the film is as near-perfect as possible.

Rating: five stars