Based on the folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, in which a bamboo cutter discovers a small girl inside a glowing stalk of bamboo and takes her away to raised with his wife as their own. The girl, who comes to be named Princess Kaguya, grows into a young woman, mostly accepted as a part of the world in which she was raised, but always separate from it, drawn to something else. The clip below shows a brief moment when, under the light of the moon, and propelled by an upsetting incident, Kaguya runs from her home, through doors and walls, losing the many layers of clothing she wears as she runs.
And by God, it's such a wonder to look at. It may be less than a minute, but the expression in the animation, the palpable sense of urgency and speed, the delicacy mixed with the frenetic energy... when other animated films may seek to improve the finest textural detail to create a sense of high realism, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya sprints in the other direction in the hopes of capturing something else. Something more.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya comes to UK cinemas this week.