The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

society, who sees women as mere objects of beauty and commodity. This is Isao Takahata's plea to his male audience, to treat the women in their lives with the respect, love , freedom and equality they deserve. Its a beautiful anime arthouse cinema, created so thoughtfully and gracefully animated. A mystical woman who grew out of bamboo was destined to be a princess (at least that's what they thought), but she was a girl of forest who was supposed to enjoy the nature of earth and live it. Instead she was burdened with expectations and told to behave a certain way only to appease and please others and suppress her own desires and happiness. Director Takahata also talks about loss of simplicity from our lives. In the search for grand and expensive things, we have lost our ability to enjoy the smallest things around us and the beautiful nature which we only exploit. As Princess Kaguya says: "There's joy, there's grief, all who live here feel them in all their different shades. There are birds, bugs, beasts, grass, trees, flowers, and feelings." It's only the humans who can go wrong, and fail to see the depth of mystery that is all around them, all the time. Princess Kaguya's parents tried to give Lil' Bamboo the perfect life. In doing so, they isolated her from the simple things that a human needs to thrive, kindness, love, kinship, and beauty. In order to live, humans must surrender to the cycle of joy and sorrow, instead of trying to find a way through it. These philosophies are taken from teachings of buddha, which are deeply embedded in Japanese society. It's a beautiful ancient fable blended with philosophy of human life, which is made with exceptional craftsmanship and relevance of the current world showcasing universal themes of womanhood and meaning of true happiness.