Princess Mononoke - 7

After watching this film again last night, I consider this film to be one of the best films I have ever seen. The story is great, the animation is out of this world, and the soundtrack enhances this film to make it a true epic. The themes of this film are so basic to human life that it is accessible to almost any audience. It is a film that engages us to ask the question, what are we to do in a world that is a tension between blessing and curse? And how should we go about pursuing the good, the true, and the beautiful? This is a must see.
This film was originally made with Japanese actors doing the voices. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and put out by Studio Ghibli. It was then purchased by Disney and put out by Miramax in the US. The English version was adapted by Neil Gaiman (author of the novels American Gods, MirrorMask, Neverwhere, etc). And the voices are taken up by the likes of Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thorton, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
Here is a good synopsis of the film from the IMDB:
"The time and place is the Muromachi era, Japan. A prince of a small village is cursed to a slow but certain death by a Boar God turned Tatari-Gami (Cursing God). To find a possible cure to the curse, he travels westwards. Hearing of a Shishi-Gami (Deer-God) that may be his salvation, he soon comes across a village of iron miners and there finds himself in the middle of a battle between the animal gods of the forest, lead by a girl called Princess Mononoke by the villagers who was raised by the Wolf God, and the iron miners, lead by a female leader who is trying to create a sanctuary for human outcasts. Along side this battle is a mysterious group of men who are after the head of the Shishi-Gami in a quest to gain immortality. Why did the Boar God turn into a Cursing God? Can he persuade all those involved to make peace or is conflict inevitable between man and nature?"