Princess Mononoke

I have several articles I need to work on still… but I was NOT going to skip Ghibli on freaking IMAX omg!!!  So after a painted chair exhibit I attended at Eastwood, I went to Megamall. My mom went there on her own too. My Grab driver’s car had a built-in USB-A charging outlet omg… and I got to use it because I asked for his USB-A to USB-C cord. Mindblowing to me tbh… Then my mom and I were seated at the IMAX five minutes before it started. I am very impressed by how fast Megamall was able to renovate their IMAX, I don’t think I saw it closed for long. I watched all of Ghibli in 2020, except for that 3D animation movie they did. That’s their only film I haven’t watched.  What stood out to me, among many others, was Princess Mononoke. I remember being shook by the amount of amputations because until then, I perceived Ghibli to be child-friendly. Aside from that, I was amazed by how ambiguous and complex it was. I also discovered Mononoke was pronounced as ‘mo-no-no-key,’ not ‘mo-no-noke.’ Yet five years had passed and I’ve forgotten much of what happened in Princess Mononoke. So in a sense, I was watching this film for the first time. And omg how glorious it just was.  Tbh I see text cards at the beginning to be an indicator of the ride I’m about to be taken on. There is just something so monumental about it. This film is aptly monumental. I just loved everything about this. The camerawork is insanely kinetic, the landscapes so lush, and the fights all captivating. For a film that’s about the loss of one’s environment, it’s surprisingly human as well. What really stood out was the scenes of all the girls giggling whenever Ashitaka shows up, plus that scene of a vendor being paid with a teeny-tiny bit of gold.  Miyazaki really is a master omg. While this proved to be too dense for a first watch, it’s something I would not hesitate to come back to.  Simply overwhelming experience in IMAX. The sound mixing was amazing, and the 4K resolution was just so vivid! It really emphasized the grandeur in Ghibli’s animation.  It’s a film that’s approaching 30 years in age, yet it still does not look like it.