2001-04-07 - 11:09 p.m.
#39: No Need for Comprehension of Mononoke Hime
Note to self: Okay, can someone please explain to me what the FRIG this flash animation is all about??? It's so.... HAPPY. And I don't know WHY. O.o I am in way over my head here.
Well, I went along to the showing of Mononoke Hime in the Lido theatre, and was surprised at the difference a large screen made for me. For example, I actually understood the story this time through. I'm serious, I didn't understand the story the first time I saw it and it only makes sense to me now after a third viewing (or second viewing.... the one at the Armageddon comic festival doesn't really count cause I was outside most of the time bullying people camped at the doorway to the theatre and making fun of Dragon Ball Z fans rather than watching Mononoke ^_^). Maybe it's because the first time I ever watched Mononoke was at home, in realmedia format and fansubbed. A combination of poor image and sound quality, constant skipping (to ease past the "bad spots" of the file) and some fairly incomprehensible fansubbing probably ruined my mood. Settling down in a theatre to watch the entire two hours of the movie without moving from my seat and soaking in the atmosphere the film generated helped a LOT, and I'm really glad I went along to have a looksee.
Without the need to constantly skip the movie forward and reintepreting what the fansub said into an acceptable and gramatically correct form of English, I was able to concentrate on the images and the story presented. At first (from the fansub), I thought the story was incomprehensibly complex, with so many woven layers that it was impossible to penetrate the plotline. But what a difference the official script by Gaiman makes! The story is still complex, but instead of being incomprehensible, it's a rich, beautiful story; and those layers add to the plot instead of cover it up in meaningless crap. It's like someone going ahead and opening the curtains for me to read a book by daylight, or at least handing me a torch so I can see better.
I mean, I got a sketchy idea of the plot from last time... About the morally ambiguous nature of Ashitakas quest, and how a force of "evil" never really enters the picture as a villain (unless you count the hunter-monks greed, but even then that's just his way of surviving in his world), I knew all that from the various plot sypnosis I read around the web.... But now I actually understand it and how it's a message that's presented through the entire film, acting as a subtle backdrop to the action. It's just a way cool connection to make, and I really enjoyed it that time. Plus, I got the fact that Ashitaka and San were romantically interested in one another this time round, instead of thinking that it was just something that was sprung for the ending. Yes, the fansub was that terrible. And it made San out to be a real bitch, too (the fact that her adopted mother is a wolf not withstanding. ^_^;;).
Now that I've seen, enjoyed and want to watch it again, I just wish I had something of better quality than the crappy fansub thing I've got at home. I also wish I didn't feel the overwhelming urge to go to the toilet about 30 minutes into the picture. By that time I was so into it that leaving the theatre was completely out of the question. I couldn't even shift my buttocks for fear of poking my bladder and causing an unfortunate accident. So it was with mixed feelings I watched the films end.... both slightly sad that it had to end, and relieved that I could finally get up and quickly make a dash (or at least a fairly fast shuffle) to the toilets.
Gee, I started out talking about Mononoke Hime and ended up talking about my urinary tract. ^_^;;; There's possibly a connection, but I sure as heck don't see it.
