It feels like an understatement to say that Studio Ghibli has made some special films. Chances are you grew up watching a few of their films. But there’s something unique about this film. It definitely feels the most intense and deals with the most mature films that any film from this studio has tackled. Many have praised how much of a landmark it was at the time it was released. All these years later, it still earns all that praise.

The main story focuses on a brewing war between Lady Eboshi – the leader of Iron Town – and the Forest Spirits which are lead by the Wolf Clan and their human member Princess Mononoke. We explore this world and conflict with Ashitaka, a young prince and fighter who has been cursed by a demon that was once a Boar God. It’s transformation was brought on after a bullet from one of the guns from Iron Town lodged itself in it’s body. While it gives him super strength, it feeds on hate that Ashitaka must fight. But he knows it won’t be long until it destroys his soul and body. However, that won’t stop him from doing what he can to end the conflict as peacefully as he can.

An easy thing to praise about this movie is the visuals and world. The way it is shot feels more grand in scale compared to most of the other movies from Ghibli’s filmography. The visuals leave us in awe of some of the fights, sights, and spirits themselves. And the world has some eerie parallels to our own in terms, especially in terms to the cost our progress has had on the world around us. Yet the story is one that gives us a message of hope that both human civilization and the natural environment can find a way to coexist. I’m glad this isn’t a movie that takes the easy route and has the message simply be that saving the environment is good. Because the characters of this story help show that this isn’t simple. Lady Eboshi is willing to fight and kill spirits. But we also see how she has taken in people considered outcasts in regular society and helped make them feel welcome and fulfilled. Princess Mononoke feels the only solution is to kill all of the people of Iron Town which is definitely going too far. Yet you can understand why both sides feel so strongly about their cause.

But let’s talk about the character the movie is named after. Abandoned by her birth parents, the Wolf God took her into her clan and made the human child her daughter. On the one hand, I’m somewhat let down by how she is used. She isn’t the main character in this story. We follow Ashitaka throughout the movie. Yes, Mononoke is an important and essential player. But it feels odd that the character the movie is named after isn’t the main focus. And she is shown to strongly on the side of the spirits. There doesn’t seem to be any inner conflict within her about fighting others from the species she was born as. There is one very brief moment where one of the Apes insults her by calling her that, and you see that does hurt her and maybe makes her have a deep thought. But nothing like that pops up again.

However, that lack of an inner exploration might be the point. Because there does some to be a lot to dissect about her. Someone can view her as an example of a terrorist. Someone who goes too far in their beliefs and doesn’t care who they kill – guilty or innocent – in order to see them fulfilled. But someone else can also view her as the embodiment of every indigenous person or tribe that has been on the destructive end of society’s progress. Fighting to hold onto her home and push back against those that she sees an invaders. So even though nothing in the movie might show her as the most conflicted character, there is still a fair amount to study about her. And I think that is on purpose. Probably the real reason her face is so iconic.

Going back to the movie’s main theme, I appreciate how it goes deeper than most Hollywood made films would go regarding the environment at that time. I think the best example of that is by looking at how Ashitaka does eventually lift the curse. It is only after he and Mononoke return the head of the Great Forest Spirit together that the curse is lifted from. The thing that fed on hate and even tried to spread hate within Ashitaka disappears once he reaches a hand out towards the other side of the conflict in an effort to find mutual peace. This doesn’t mean everything goes back the way it was. Iron Town will find a way to rebuild, but Eboshi does seem willing to try and make changes for the better. Mononoke will still be with the Wolf Clan but she will regularly meet Ashitaka who will help make sure Iron Town isn’t as destructive as it was. It might only be the start to finding a balance, but sometimes finding that start is the hardest thing to do. One of the most complex and mature films from Studio Ghibli is one that deserves to be watched multiple times to soak in everything it has to offer.