Princess Mononoke, released in Japan as Mononoke Hime, is the second highest grossing film of all time in that country, and for good reason: It's a beautiful film.

Set in a mythically enhanced feudal Japan, Princess Mononoke explores the conflict between the natural world and advancing technology, in this case represented by Irontown and the development of guns and mining. The story's brilliance shines here, as there is no "all good" side and no "all bad" side, and in the overall conflict one feels sorry for everyone involved.

In addition, the American dub (released by Miramax) is very good, despite being overloaded with celebrity talent. Often rcognizing the voice behind a character interferes with our perception of that character, but in Princess Mononoke most of the voice work integrates well enough into the film (and the story is so compelling) that one doesn't notice.

In fact, the only real distraction in the film is that the animation of the backgrounds is done in such a different style from the character animation that it's sometimes disconcerting, and the characters appear to be drawn on the landscape rather than existing within it. This is not so distracting, however, as to change my opinion/enjoyment of the film.

Which is ... everyone, yes everyone, should see this film.