The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
One day, while gathering bamboo stalks in the forest, a farmer is amazed to find a mysterious sprout that grows incredibly fast right before his eyes. The plant flowers and opens to reveal a tiny little girl inside of the flower, whom the farmer believes was sent from heaven for him to take care of, so he takes the tiny girl home with him. Once home, the farmer’s wife holds the little forest nymph and she turns into a baby, which the couple care for. They, with the help of the neighborhood children, name her Princess Takenoko (“Little Bamboo”). Their baby grows fast, and before they know it, she is a child who loves to run and play in nature with the other children.
Another day when the farmer is collecting bamboo, he finds another mysterious plant that is filled with gold this time. He takes this as a sign that he should move his family into an opulent house in the city and raise his daughter as a princess. Princess Takenoko is very sad to leave her friends, but during her stay in the city she discovers a talent that she wasn’t aware of before, the ability to play a mysterious and beautiful song on the koto. In her new home, as a princess she receives a new name, Princess Kaguya (“The Shining Princess”). There, her father wants for her to marry a nobleman as soon as possible, but Princess Kaguya is not interested, so she asks for impossible items, which the noblemen have compared the princess to, to be attained by the noblemen before she will marry one of them. On an outing one day, she sees her old friend Sutemaru stealing a chicken, and remembers how happy she was as a child, but then after they see each other, she retreats into her carriage and Sutemaru gets beat up in the street for stealing. As time passes, Princess Kaguya remembers where she came from and unravels her mysterious life on earth.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was drawn with expressive sketches and with pastel and earthy watercolors, resulting in stunningly beautiful images, and making it another must-see animation from the talented team at Studio Ghibli. Between the wonderful art and the enchanting story, it’s no wonder that this film is at the top of Rotten Tomatoes’ Certified Fresh Japanese Movies. It was directed by Isao Takahata, also known for Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Only Yesterday (1991), Pom Poko (1994), and My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999). The screenplay was written by Isao Takahata and Riko Sakaguchi, and it was based on a 10th-century Japanese folk tale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
