Hayao Miyazaki - Ranking His Movies From Worst To Best

3. Princess Mononoke

The first Hayao Miyazaki film to find major success outside of Japan - a success which went well beyond the hardcore anime fan-base which until then had been the primary market for export - Princess Mononoke is also his most profound commentary on a recurring theme in his works: the dynamics between mankind and nature and our role as protectors or destroyers of the environment. A period fantasy piece which has echoes of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke places the audience in medieval Japan as forest demons increasingly attack the human settlements around them. Emishi price Ashitaka defeats one such demon but sustains an injury which infects his arm, so he sets out across country to find a cure in the lands to the west. Notable for its depiction of feudal warfare (replete with limbs and head severing), it's Miyazaki's most serious movie to date, largely bereft of the lightness of tone found in his filmography. Stunning looking, the fluidly animated characters set against the intricate forest backdrops match the epic story, building to a crescendo until the grand finale, in which the spirits of the forest of all shapes and sizes burst onto the screen.