What does a god of nature look like? How does it behave? These questions may seem unanswerable, but Hayao Miyazaki tackles both with his vision for the incarnation of the forest itself in this creature. The obvious center of the battle for nature, this bizarre, otherworldly creature is distinguished by a imposing physical presence and its strange, enigmatic nature. Only glimpsed once or twice before the epic finale, the Forest Spirit (often referred to as "The Spirit of the Forest") is a creature of grace and mystery. Its face has an ageless quality - eyes that suggest centuries of wisdom, yet do not bely any frailty. Every time its feet touch the ground, small ferns spring up, age, and die in turn. This creature is a collection of such tantalizing details that make it a believable embodiment of nature. The most crucial aspect of this character, however, comes much later in the film. As part of a continuing conflict between the humans and animals, Lady Eboshi of Irontown follows protagonist Ashitaka to the home of The Forest Spirit, where she kills it by blowing off its head. Yes, you read that right: Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of My Neighbor Totoro, kills the god of nature in this film. The consequences are enormous, for the creature once full of life transforms into a gigantic monster and starts to destroy everything in sight in order to recover its lost head. While calling it an unsubtle environmentalist metaphor would be a massive understatement, the primal power unleashed by the death of this beautifully imagined creature is an awe-inspiring feat to behold.
Self-evidently a man who writes for the Internet, Robert also writes films, plays, teleplays, and short stories when he's not working on a movie set somewhere. He lives somewhere behind the Hollywood sign.
