At the Edge of the Forest: Ecocriticism in Princess Mononoke with Film Professor Rob Ribera

Studio Ghibli Film Festival, March 3 - April 2

Festival Note: The March 9 screening will include an opening talk and Q&A with Robert Ribera, Instructor in Film Studies at Portland State University.

Princess Mononoke is a landmark of animation and a film of unsurpassed power and beauty. An epic story of conflict between humans, gods, and nature, the film has been universally acclaimed by critics and broke the box office record on its original release in Japan.

While defending his village from a demonic boar-god, the young warrior Ashitaka becomes afflicted with a curse that grants him super-human power in battle but will eventually take his life. Traveling west to find a cure or meet his destiny, he journeys deep into sacred depths of the Great Forest where he meets San (Princess Mononoke), a girl raised by wolf-gods who is waging battle against the human outpost of Iron Town, on the edge of the forest. The girl Mononoke is a force of nature – with blood smeared lips, riding bareback on a great white wolf, doing battle with both gods and humans, she is as iconic a figure as any from film, literature, or opera.

Duration: 134 mins. | Rating: PG-13 | Presented Mar. 4, Mar. 12, Mar. 25 & Mar. 29 dubbed in English and Mar. 9 & Apr. 1 in Japanese with English subtitles