Opens October 29, 1999

Princess Mononoke, the first Japanese anime film to be released to a wide American audience, arrives on these shores with a proud history. When it was released, it quickly broke the long-held box office record for Japan's highest grossing film, surpassing E.T., The Extra Terrestrial and went on to win the Japanese version of the Academy Award. Resolutely adult in both themes and approach, this is not animation for the Disney generation. With newly dubbed American voices and an adaptation by Sandman comic book creator Neil Gaiman, the film appeals because of its sophistication and its poetry, as well as the refreshing absence of cheery musical numbers.

Steeped in Japanese mythology as all Anime is, this film may leave some American audiences hanging because of its sheer obtuseness. Still, it works on the most basic level, that of telling a story passionately. The setting is ancient Japan when Samurai still fought for their masters and monsters still roamed the earth. Our hero is Ashitaka (Billy Crudup), a young warrior of a dying clan, who kills a demonic beast that has attacked his village. Too late, he learns that the possessed creature was actually a cursed forest god and that, in the course of the struggle, the curse has been passed onto him. Ashitaka flees his village to find the source of the curse and perhaps save his own life.

Ashitaka's journey takes him to Iron Town owned Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), a powerful and seductive mistress who is doing battle with the wolves of the nearby forest. They are not just wolves, however. They are the Moro Clan - meaning, gods. Living amongst the wolves is human San (Claire Danes), the Princess Mononoke of the title. Adopted by the wolf god Moro (Gillian Anderson), San is more animal than human, a wild child who instinctively mistrusts humans, especially Lady Eboshi, whom she has vowed to kill.

When the conflict between San and Eboshi escalates, Ashitaka is tortured by the need to take sides in a bloody battle that pits the forest beasts against the humans. Embodying the essence of Japanese philosophy, he desperately tries to strike a balance between man and nature. It is this core idea that powers the film. There is no good or evil here, no right and wrong. Rather, the journey for all the characters is to learn how to coexist, to create harmony from disarray. It's these somewhat spiritual ideas -- as well as a long-winded middle act -- that will alienate most Western audiences, which tend to be more eager to embrace black and white heroes and villains.

What amazes you as you watch the film, though, is the sheer majesty of the animation. Nothing against Disney or Pixar, but director Miyazaki's Japanese crew has created a world of such scope that it is sometimes staggering. The color saturation and luminosity of the images, combined with an epic score, work to convey the themes better than any words. Surprisingly, there is also a welcome sense of humor, most apparent in the hug-able, head-spinning Kodama tree spirits, which could truly give Pokeman a run for his money. You really have to see these little guys.

While some of the film's sequences are a bit elliptical -- especially the final confrontation with the Forest God -- the overall effect here is elegant and restrained, thanks in great part to Neil Gaiman's adaptation, which captures the magic of Miyazaki's world. This is complemented in no small part by voice director Jack Fletcher, who has aptly guided his American cast to make the ideas and emotions accessible. Everyone involved in Princess Mononoke clearly realized that it is not idealistic, fairy tale animation for the masses. Rather the film embraces the Japanese sensibility, never cheapens it, pressing us to look inside ourselves and seek out our own sense of balance with the universe. Spiritual, yes, but that is the essence of Anime.