Rural bamboo-cutter Okina (Chii, or Caan in English) finds a tiny girl (Asakura/Moretz) growing in a bamboo stalk and calls her "Princess", raising her with his wife Ouna (Miyamoto/Steenburgen). Later finding gold and silk in his bamboo grove, Okina believes the gods want him to raise Princess in regal splendour, so he moves the family to the capital, where she's named Kaguya and courted by the land's five most-eligible princes, plus His Majesty himself (Nakamura/Cain). But Kaguya is uninterested, longing for the simple joys of her youth and something else she can't quite understand.

This fairy tale is a clever exploration of both Japan's gender politics and the indefinable aspects of a young girl's coming-of-age. These things make every twist and turn in the plot both fascinating and sharply pointed. We can't help but identify with Kaguya's yearning for her childhood pals, who called her "L'il Bamboo" because she grew up so quickly. Her closest friend Sutemaru (Kora/Criss) adds yet another fascinating layer to the film, with an unpredictable romance as well as more social commentary.

Veteran filmmaker Takahata animates this in a fresh style that seems hand-drawn with pen, ink and watercolours. It's strikingly minimalistic, but with a richness of detail that continually dazzles. The designs flex to match the mood of a scene, from the contrast between the countryside and bustling city to a couple of heart-pounding action-style sequences. The only weak moment is the denouement, a strong, bittersweet conclusion to the story that's animated so bizarrely that it feels floaty and creepy, until a wonderful final jolt.

Even so, this is one of the richest animated movies in recent memory. Like Miyazaki's ambitious biopic The Wind Rises, this film pushes strongly back against the sameness of Hollywood's animation, finding new ways ways to combine art and storytelling. Not only does the film continually provide a feast for the eyes, but it's never empty spectacle, deepening the characters while providing narrative momentum that reminds us how magical great storytelling can be, taking us somewhere we've never been before.

themes, violence

29.Jan.15