10s Movie Review - The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Director: Isao Takahata

Genre: Animation/ Drama/ Fantasy/ Adventure

Runtime: 137 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Chlöe Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, James Marsden, John Cho, Beau Bridges, Dean Cain, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, Oliver Platt

Description: Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter (James Caan) and his wife (Mary Steenburgen), a tiny girl (Chlöe Grace Moretz) grows rapid fast into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthralls all who encounter her, but ultimately must confront her fate, the punishment for her crime.  

 Review: A farmer finds a tiny princess in a bamboo plant, takes her home and soon she’s turned into a human baby. It all happened without any commotion in the first few minutes. Where Disney would accompany it with sparkling star rains and magical music, in “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” is brought as something familiar and logical. It’s a true fairytale from Studio Ghibli.

The young Kaguya grows up as a normal child on the farmland, but her adoptive parents understand that they are dealing with royalty and only want the very best for her. Father and mother address their child with greatness and take her to the big city to make her a full-fledged princess. In the meantime, the child herself has nothing to contribute. She does not want to get married at all, but in order not to disappoint her proud father, she agrees to choose from a number of selected noblemen.

That this search for love is actually a little too long and predictable can be taken for granted, because the rest of this fairy tale is beautiful. When more is known about Kaguya’s background, the film gains strength to end in a deeply movie scene.

Director Isao Takahata, best known for “Grave of the Fireflies”, gives the message to be merciful and supportive towards each other in the last act, but puts a lot more in his film through symbolism. References to the story of Jesus Christ and other religions for example.

Apart from symbolism and fantasy elements, “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” is above all a drama in which human emotions such as mercy and melancholy are central. This is recognizable for everyone. in addition, the animations department provides a number of beautiful scenes. Not everyone might like the style, since it’s more outlined art or sketch-like, with a more limited color palette. But I think it looks beautiful.

If you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli movies, you should not miss this one.

Rating: 4/ 5