A short review of 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya かぐや姫の物語' as a long appendix to the previous post REVIEW: 'The Tale of Genji'.
Film / Director
The film is based on the classic work of the Heian period, 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter 竹取物語', and the plot is basically the same as the original.
Directed by Isao Takahata 高畑勲 belonging to Studio Ghibli, the Mochi director, and my Mochi brother. He has the same type of personal qualities as me. I have sympathy for his philosophy of nature and life. His conclusion is obvious; Mochi. It's everywhere in his works. O-Kiyo おキヨ of 'Pom Poko 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ' is my ideal girl.
And again he made this film Mochi, this is Mochi film expect the grown-up Princess and Mikado the Emperor. The Emperor is portrayed as the symbol of Money, Power, Vanity. The Emperor's chin and outfit are designed to be the complete opposite quality of Mochi. Maybe Takahata needed to face this motif as a Mochi director before he ends his career.
I heard that Isao Takahata directed the composer Jō Hisaishi 久石譲 as follows;
"You do not portray characters' feelings" (登場人物の気持ちを表現してはいけない)
"You do not explain situations" (状況につけてはいけない)
"You do not stir up audience" (観客の気持ちをあおってはいけない)
I don't know what to do about this. But it sounds cool anyway.
Comparison
'The Tale of Bamboo Cutter' is the opposite of 'The Tale of Genji'. It is interesting that both of the literary works were born in the same period. Both portray "Man and Woman" and "Human Nature", but from each opposite viewpoints. "What if what men do comes first?", "What if what a woman says is everything?".
The story reminded me of an idiom, "ask for the moon". "This Mortal Coil", "A Sense of Transience of Life". From a practical view, the answer to the matters is "Moderation". What is your answer?
The wind shines under the moonlight.
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| Rhymed Verse in the Classical Japanese of around the Taishō period Witten by Haruo Satō 佐藤春夫, Calligraphed(Partially tuned in Heian) and Illustrated by Tazfummy Iseki |
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