Princess from the Moon

This beautifully realized tale of poor man and his wife -- played by Toshiro Mifune and Ayako Wakao -- who have lost their daughter. The following evening a baby appears with a crystal ball, the image of the dead child. Within days, they find a fortune in good and the child has grown into Yasuko Kawaguchi, the most beautiful girl in Japan. Three noblemen come to court her, and she sets them three impossible tasks.

It's derived from a story by Lady Murasaki, who invented the formal novel. It is beautifully shot and performed, although it was clearly made in the 1980s -- the immense spaceship at the end looks like the alien spacecraft from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The entire movie offers an unworldly tone that suits its fantastic nature perfectly.

Although Lady Murasaki is often credited with inventing the novel, in fact there had been Chinese novels for a couple of centuries. It was, however, a lower-class phenomenon; epic poetry was the medium for longer, more involved tales, and would remain so for centuries.

I went into this because I wanted to watch the penultimate movie where the movie goddess Ayako Wakao acted, and while I don't have complaints about her performance I have SERIOUS problems with all the rest. Most of all, the absolute boredom that permeates this whole movie from start to finish. Yeah, the setting and costumes are accurate, but that doesn't excuse the previously mentioned boredom of all. There are also a lot of logical inconsistencies and character incongruencies allaround (the princess wishing to her beloved to be safe by sending him to a mission with a million percent of possibility - didn't someone tell her the odds?! - to die stealing the crown in that regards) that don't help at all. The final close encounters of the third kind rip-off moment seems also thrown completely at random with no discernible reason other than trying to salvage something not salvageable with a cheap shock twist. And good job on the atrocious special effects, they would make blush crap like Manborg for envy. An absolute inanity of a movie that I don't recommend to anyone to get through. Avoid with no remorse whatsoever.

I assume that "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" (also called "Princess Kaguya") is a familiar story to many Japanese people. Here in the States, we have, for the most part, never heard of it. Because of this, I am not sure how it compares to other versions of this story. All I know is that I really enjoyed this film with a modern slant.

The original story was written sometime around the 10th century (at least that's what Wikipedia says) though at the end of the film it says it's set around 790AD. Regardless, it's a very fanciful tale that has been updated a bit to suit modern sensibilities. The film begins with a wood cutter (Toshiro Mifune) finding a baby when he's out in the bamboo forest visiting his daughter's grave. However, this is no ordinary baby--it grows VERY fast and is an outer space baby!! And, more importantly, it looks like his dead daughter but with weird blue eyes (in the original story, she had hair that shone like the moon). She soon grows up--at a highly accelerated rate. And, she's so beautiful that all the men seem to want her--even the Emperor! However, she rebuffs all their advances and sends the suitors off on impossibly crazy tasks--and you assume it's just to get them out of her hair! Later, the film becomes a LOT like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", as her actual people from the Moon are coming back to claim her. This is because given modern sensibilities and special effects, the ship looks a lot like those from Spielberg films--such as "Close Encounters" or "E.T."! It's all the more amazing because the story was written so long ago.

The story is very beautifully filmed, acted and the story is pretty exciting. The only negative is that, inexplicably, the film's credits roll with a song from Peter Cetera (from "Chicago")--music that seems odd given that it's a medieval story! However, this is a very minor quibble and the story is lovely from start to finish.

I've unintentionally watched two films from Kon Ichikawa today - Princess from the Moon and An Actor's Revenge. I can't quite say I loved either, but both were interesting (I'd agree with the general consensus regarding the latter being better and more of a classic).

Princess from the Moon had me intrigued because I'd heard it contained at least traces of kaiju, and because it tells the same basic story that 2013's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya did... maybe not as well, or not in a way that has the same impact.

Still, I think Princess from the Moon is decent. It's pretty well-presented, and seeing two well-regarded and prolific actors in lead roles - Toshiro Mifune and Ayako Wakao - definitely added something. It didn't feel essential or like a must-watch, but it was a neat fairytale-type of film with a bit of a sci-fi spin, and that's probably not something most people see every day.

If you are all a fan of great Japanese films and culture, see this one.

Based of a famous classic fairy tale, it has top of the line production values.

Beautiful visually and a great cast, it is a hidden gem with a classic, mystical, Japanese feel.

I don't know how I failed to see this sooner, it was on TCM.