Lauren Johnson

KAGUYA-HIME NO MONOGATARI is based on the oldest known Japanese narrative, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, believed to be written in the 10th century. It tells the story of a poor man who finds a tiny girl in a stalk of bamboo. He takes the girl home to his wife, and they decide to raise her as their own and name her Kaguya. As she grows, Kaguya's otherworldly beauty becomes more apparent, and suitors begin to ask for her hand in marriage. She turns all of them down, rejecting the concept of marriage outright. At the end of the story, Kaguya must return to where she came from ? the moon. As is clear from the premise of the tale and the opening scene of the movie when she is found, the titular character is not your average girl. Aside from her unusual discovery, we are first made aware of this in the scene where her adoptive father brings her home. She suddenly grows from a well-proportioned little person like Thumbelina or one of the Borrowers to something like a human infant. Considering that Takahata has always been the teller of more realistic stories compared Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli cofounder and legendary animator) and his flights of boundless imagination, this moment is one of the first instances in the movie that showcases Takahata's unique ability to blend the fantasy of this tale with the realism he is more experienced with crafting. It's so understated that it borders on unsettling. The first act of the movie is top-tier coming-of-age type stuff. The main character makes fast friends with some local boys and begins exploring the world around her home. Her father wishes to refer to her as hime, or "princess, but her new pals dub her takenoko, or "bamboo, to his chagrin. Her micro adventures cement one of the central themes within the film ? the Buddhist ideal that a simple life is a good life. Once her father begins discovering piles of gold inside his bamboo harvests, it is only a matter of time before he whisks his little family away to an expensive palace where Takenoko will get the grooming she needs to become the princess the bamboo cutter intends for her to be. It is here that Takenoko ? now referred to as Kaguya ? begins to really develop as a character. At first, she openly basks in the luxuries of an affluent life but quickly begins to reject the expectations of one at her station ? that is, etiquette, physical alterations, and eventually marriage. The story arc with the suitors is what I have the most problems with. They show up and boast all of the treasures they could lay at Kaguya's feet, but each boldly proclaims that Kaguya would be the most prized possession were she his. The princess rejects the notion of being objectified like a rare gemstone or precious metal and sends the suitors away. A few of them return later to prove their love through deception, but the young girl sees through their lies and sends them away once more, even refusing the proposal of the emperor of Japan. All of this is important to Kaguya's growth as a character. It proves that she is still the self-reliant tomboy she was as a poor bamboo cutter's daughter, despite all her pampering. The problem is that it lacks any of the understated magic that's so pervasive throughout the rest of the film and quickly begins to feel like a stuffy period piece instead of the fantastical folktale that it is. In a scene where the princess is doing something as uncomplicated as learning to play music, there is a mysticism surrounding her affinity for the instrument. All of this mystery and intrigue disappears as soon as these hopeful husbands show up. It bogs down the film to the point that by the time it's over, the audience has already been checking their watches for almost half an hour. To read the rest of this review, please visit.