●●●●●

Isao Takahata’s final film continues with his break from Studio Ghibli conventions, both in animation style and emotional focus. For The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, the director of Grave of the Fireflies and Pom Poko has chosen to tell the story of a strange miniature girl found inside a shoot of bamboo by a bamboo cutter. Bringing the girl home to his wife, he believes that the heavens want her to be raised as a princess. As Kaguya grows up at an inhumanly exponential rate, her parents become convinced that the happiness of the princess will only be fulfilled once she assumes the role of a noblewoman, as they eventually relocate from their home on a lush mountain to the concrete solitude of the city.

The animation in the film is made up of watercolours and smudges of charcoal, which give the impression that we’re seeing the story as it was originally presented in Japanese folklore. Though this may seem minimalist, nothing could be further than the truth. While Princess Kaguya herself is drawn with the most detail, minor characters all burst forth with individual personalities and quirks like her father’s blushing cheeks or her lady-in-waiting’s cat-like smile. The few action sequences are almost a stop motion affair, with violent streaks of paint zigzagging across the frame and textures haphazardly filled-in, jolting the audience to attention.

Takahata relishes the slow pace of his creation, lingering on single silent frames of facial expressions and the repetition of visual jokes and cues. This pacing — coupled with a long runtime — might turn off some viewers, but we are rewarded with a deep connection with Kaguya and her parents as they navigate the twists and turns of another extraordinary female Ghibli character’s life.