The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was such a beautiful movie made by Studio Ghibli and directed by Isao Takahata (of Grave of the Fireflies fame) based upon the famous Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. This is a movie that should truly be considered a "work of art". The classical Japanese art style, which left in sketch lines and seemed to be painted on, took a little getting used to but ended up being spectacular especially with the concluding moon parade sequence. Along with the music and singing, these elements were incredibly immersive and really helped to transport me back to 10th century Japan. The portrayal of all the characters' emotions really stood out to me from the combination of the superb voice acting/singing and vibrant and dynamic art (definitely go with the original Japanese VAs). I could really feel all the pain, suffering and emotions that Kaguya was experiencing throughout the movie. It was just all around top notch work.

The story itself was heart-wrenching (for me at least) and fueled by the emotions of Kaguya. Takahata definitely went with a more somber and emotionally distraught interpretation of this famous tale. As the viewer, you could really feel the love between Kaguya and her parents, but empathize with how they struggled to understand each other at times. At times, I felt so frustrated by Kaguya's father that I just wanted to slap the shit out of him even though he meant the best. I'm also a sucker for happy endings and I definitely got hit by the feels train at the end. That beautifully animated flying sequence when Kaguya and Sutemaru were finally reunited really had me going but then BOOM. And then came "the ending" (I don't want to spoil any of it so you'll just have to watch). I did feel that the story was a little hard to follow and unclear towards the end but this was when we were entering "artistic license" and "rampant symbolism" territory. It was pretty clear that Takahata wanted to leave some things open to the audience's own interpretation.

All in all, an excellent watch and definitely Takahata's best work since Grave of the Fireflies. I recommend watching this with the original Japanese voice actors but the English dub didn't do a bad job either. I hope that Ghibli will continue to take on more eccentric projects like this in the future. I would have definitely loved this movie even more if it had ended on a happier note, but this is how The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter goes. You don't mess with a 1000+ year old classic. Anyway, get out and watch this because you don't come across a piece of "art" like this too often.

A film to talk about is intimidating. Because with the umpteenth sublime, masterpiece, enchanting or amazing, one realizes that in any languages there are not enough superlatives to give it justice.

From the ethereal and impressionist aesthetic rendered with a few strokes of black ink and colored frame by frame individually taken directly from the sumi-e prints of the 14th century, to the animation as minimal as immeasurably expressive (in the scenes of tension the faces deform imperceptibly but, I swear, freezing my blood for the terror they deliver), to the virtuosities that simulate a directing with hand-held live camera, to the story that perfectly blends the original 10th century folktale with modern themes of depression, patriarchal society, trauma and nostalgia for nature (this latter one a fundamental theme of all of Takahata's poetics)... Everything forces those who have seen it to talk about it to those who have not seen it, loading their expectations which - however high they may be - it is certain that they will be met. I even found a scientific article (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ijitee.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/v8i11S2/K103209811S219.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjhnKCn-8v2AhX48LsIHQdZAAUQFnoECCsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3P87B_j0NgGGq8VmhiKUoK) about its mesmerizing artistic style and technique, just to stress how much could be said on this movie.

A production that lasted 8 years to create the latest film by Takahata, a genius whose sensibility we are orphans but who after (unfortunately few) works of enormous value and completely different in style (think about the richness of details of his first movies like Only Yesterday compared to this one or My Neighbors the Yamadas), he has also given us this immense artistic legacy that sticks in your eyes, indelible.

This film comes from the Takahata side of Studio Ghibli. The two founders, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata have very different approaches to character, world building, theme and storytelling (and I am decidedly in the Miyazaki camp). This was to be the last project that Takahata did for Studio Ghibli and to do so he returned to a story that had long held his attention, "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter". He began by abandoning the realistic animation style, for which Ghibli had become famous, for for a style he created and named "sketch animation". He wanted His audience to "imagine or recall the reality deep within the drawings", rather than be distracted by a realistic art style. He wanted to have people "recollect the realities of this life by sketching ordinary human qualities with simple props". So, he depended on Osamu Tanabe to provide the "sketch" character designs and used Kazuo Oga's beautiful watercolor backgrounds. I have to confess it took a moment for me to release the one animation style in favour of the other, but the innate freedom of form and the beautiful palette soon won me over. Much of the story is told from the perspective of the Princess or Little Bamboo, as the village children had called her, and her wit and cleverness save her from the plans of others for her life. Although we are well aware of the "otherness" of Little Bamboo, the ending was too abstract for me and it lessened the resolve of the story. As is common to Takahata's films, the simplicity of nature supersedes the false promise of the city and we are left with a longing for Little Bamboo's former existence. For the beauty of the film, the flowing music, the winsome characters and the fully embodied character of the Princess, I give this film a 9 (superb) out of 10. [Animated Feature]