Beautiful animation with a tragic ending that leaves a bitter aftertaste, in the way of old folktales.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Japan
- 2013
- · 137m
Director
Isao Takahata
Cast
Aki Asakura,
Kengo Kora,
Nobuko Miyamoto,
Atsuko Takahata
Genre
Animation,
Drama,
Fantasy
Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthralls all who encounter her—but ultimately she must confront her fate, the punishment for her crime.
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What are critics saying?
100
The A.V. Club by David Ehrlich
A devastating and deceptively simple tale adapted from 10th-century folklore, Isao Takahata’s The Tale Of Princess Kaguya distills a millennium of Japanese storytelling into a timeless film that feels both ancient and alive in equal measure.
100
The Hollywood Reporter by Leslie Felperin
It’s a lovely piece of work.
100
The Telegraph by Robbie Collin
Emotions and moods are anchored to specific moments of stillness, and we feel them all the more intensely because of it.
100
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
This delicate, hand-drawn marvel is lyrical and heartbreaking in ways that most live-action movies never approach.
100
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Bilge Ebiri
Magical and melancholy, The Tale of Princess Kaguya comes from the other mad genius of Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata, who co-founded the beloved Japanese animation company alongside the great Hayao Miyazaki back in 1985.
100
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a marvel of Japanese animation, a hand-drawn, painterly epic that submerges us in a world of beauty.
100
RogerEbert.com by Glenn Kenny
The Tale of Princess Kaguya is both very simple and head-spinningly confounding, a thing of endless visual beauty that seems to partake in a kind of pictorial minimalism but finds staggering possibilities for beautiful variation within its ineluctable modality. It’s a true work of art.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Glacially told gem from animator Isao Takahata, the 78-year-old cofounder with Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli.
91
The Playlist by Oliver Lyttelton
It's a remarkably gorgeous piece of work.
91
Portland Oregonian by Marc Mohan
At over two hours, it might test the patience of some younger viewers (and some impatient older ones as well), but for anyone willing to take the time, it's an utter treat.
91
Entertainment Weekly by Joe McGovern
Glacially told gem from animator Isao Takahata, the 78-year-old cofounder with Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli.
90
Variety by Maggie Lee
The Tale of Princess Kaguya is a visionary tour de force, morphing from a childlike gambol into a sophisticated allegory on the folly of materialism and the evanescence of beauty.
88
Slant Magazine by Elise Nakhnikian
The soft colors, graceful movements, and clean lines together embody the ineffable beauty of life on Earth that is one of the film's main themes.
80
New York Daily News
This adaptation of a 10th-century folk tale is less sumptuous than Ghibli maestro Hiyao Miyazaki’s surreal classics, yet it’s also more affecting than most of them. An allegory about the irrecoverable joys of childhood, it may make parents hug their kids now.
80
The Dissolve by Noel Murray
Throughout The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya, even when it gets bogged down in too much story, the animation is so gorgeous that any given frame could pass for a masterwork.
60
CineVue by Ben Nicholson
Taking Eastern watercolours as inspiration, the aesthetic is impressionistic and painterly with a fluidity that imbues the piece with an intrinsic magic.
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