Princess Raccoon (Should be Princess Tanuki)
Princess Raccoon with Zang Ziyi
First off, this film is incorrectly named. It should be Princess Tanuki, not not Princess Raccoon.
Per the ever resourceful Wikipedia
Tanuki (Katakana: タヌã‚; or Kanji: 狸) is often mistakenly translated as raccoon or badger, but is in fact a raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), a canid species native to Japan and other Asian countries. Tanuki have been part of Japanese mythology since ancient times. The mythical tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded.
[edit]Tanuki in folklore
The current humorous image of tanuki is thought to have been developed during the Kamakura era. The wild tanuki has unusually large testicles, a feature often comically exaggerated in artistic depictions of the creature. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like a traveller’s pack, or using them as drums. Tanuki are also typically depicted as having large bellies. They may be shown drumming on their bellies instead of their testicles, especially in children’s art.
A common schoolyard song in Japan (the tune of which can be heard in the arcade game Ponpoko) makes rather explicit reference to the tanuki anatomy:
- Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa
- Kaze mo nai no ni
- Bura bura bura
Roughly translated, it means “Tanuki’s testicles swing back and forth even when there is no wind blowing.”
OK, so now you got that knowledge under your belt, you’ll slowly be further and further annoyed by how this film proceeds. Or maybe that’s just me.
This film is an odd stew of fable, mythology, opera, greek mythology, shakespeare, and cinematics. While the costumes are gorgeous and the storyline playful and surreal, one can’t help but get caught up in the overwhelming state of ubermeta meta meta happening within the film which proves distracting and quite handicapping to the narrative and the visual splendor of the film.
First it’s a fable/fairytale. Then there’s guys in shakespeare garb singing in italian. Then there’s a Madama Butterfly “staging” vibe. Then there’s a cinematic (non tehater) component and visualizationthere. Then there’s some CGI. Then there’s singing in Japanese. Then there’s Zhang Ziyi singing in Chinese. And everyone understands each other. Then there’s a meddling huberous father who wants to kill his son who’s fairer than he (So very snow white). Then there’s some invocation of the Virgin Mary and images of a crucifix. Then there’s a Puck-like character who’se intention is to play mischief. Then there’s a Shakespeare esque fool character that tells the truth to the audience. Then the japanese grandparents are singing in a hiphop song. Then there’s a 70s style disco balad. Then there’s a calypso musical dance number. Then there’s a tap dance. Then there’s a shoowop number by the handmaidens of our Princess Tanuki. Then there’s a samurai fight scene. Then there’s a quest. Then there’s a golden frog. Then there’s some Buddhist chants. And then there’s a happy ending.
Confused? Yeah.
It’s like someone swallowed a Midsummer Nights Dream, Japanese fables, and Opera scores by Puccini, the complete library of musicals from 1940 to Ziggy Stardust, and then threw up in front of a video camera. The film is only redeemed by the fact that people at least look pretty and the music is reasonably decent.
I give it 2/5 pigtails. *Sigh* I shake my head in disappointment.
If you want to watch something *Good* about Tanukis, then watch Studio Ghibli’s full feature animation Pom Poko! That film gets 4.5/5 pigtails by comparison.
The official review
Operetta Tanuki Goten
World Cinema
Japan, 2005, 111 minutesSHOWTIMES
Wed, Apr 26 / 9:30 / Kabuki / PRIN26K
Fri, Apr 28 / 2:30 / Castro / PRIN28C
Sun, Apr 30 / 8:00 / PFA / PRIN30PCREDITS
- dir Seijun Suzuki
- prod Katashima Ikki, Satoru Ogura
- scr Yoshio Urasawa
- cam Yonezo Maeda
- editor Nobuyuki Ito
- mus Michiru Oshima, Ryomei Shirai
- cast Ziyi Zhang, Joe Odagiri, Hiroko Yakushimaru, Yuki Saori, Mikijiro Hira
- source Dentsu Tec Inc., 1-11-10, Tsukiji, 104-8411 Chuo-ku, Japan FAX: +81-3-5551-9475 EMAIL: movie@dentsutec.co.jp
t’s hard to believe we’ve had the pleasure of watching Seijun Suzuki movies for almost 50 years. What’s even more remarkable is that his films have remained as youthfully nutty as they were in the ’60s. His new musical Princess Raccoon is a love story of sorts, between a man and an animal. But there’s no bestiality here—this animal is played by the stunning Ziyi Zhang, who is a tanuki, a raccoon-like creature that can change shape and impersonate just about anything, including a human (if you saw Isao Takahata’s Pom Poko at the 1995 SFIFF you’ll know all about tanukis). The object of her affection is Prince Amechiyo (Joe Odagiri, also starring in The House of Himiko, SFIFF 2006). Amechiyo’s father, Lord of Castle Grace, banishes Amechiyo to the wilderness when his in-house witch informs him that Amechiyo is soon to be better looking than his father. There the comely Princess Raccoon discovers him and whisks him back to her castle. This being a Suzuki movie, don’t go looking for much more plot—Japan’s premier trickster would rather rescue us from such mundanities. Instead, glory in the spectacular production design and cheerful wackiness of this anything-goes pop opera, replete with singing frogs, a dancing ska band (skabuki?), a plethora of multi-mythical characters and images ranging from the whimsical to the profound. It’s all terrific fun, especially if you just pretend those subtitles are bouncing-ball sing-along lyrics and join in.
—Tod Booth
Presented in association with the Center for Asian American Media and the Japan Society of Northern California. Sponsored by Dolby.
1 Comment