Movie Representation: The Princess from the Moon (竹取物語 Taketori monogatari) and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語 Kaguyahime no Monogatari)
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The movie cover
Kaguya's soul entering Kaya's tomb
Young Kaguya having blue eyes and a special power of quick healing
Kaguya falling in love with Otomo
The spacecraft from the moon coming to the palace
The Princess from the Moon
The Princess from the Moon (竹取物語) is a movie directed by Kon Ichikawa (市川 崑) and was released in 1987. The movie was based on the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and some modern elements were added as well.
Different from the original story, the bamboo cutter in this movie had a daughter before the princess from the moon appeared on the earth. The daughter's name was Kaya, which can be seen as a suggestion of Kaguya. Kaya died at the age of 5, and the bamboo cutter couple were very sad about Kaya's death. Then one day, a meteorite hit the bamboo forest where Kaya's tomb was. When the bamboo cutter went to exam what had happened, very bright light was shot from the meteorite to Kaya's tomb, and suddenly, a girl who looked like Kaya, except her blue eyes, stood right in front of the bamboo cutter.
The bamboo cutter did not like this girl with blue eyes, because he felt like this girl was an alien, but his wife loved this girl due to her missing toward Kaya. When Kaya was taken to the bamboo cutter's house, she brought a crystal ball and an incense burner. The crystal ball was actually the tool through which the girl obtained energy and message from the moon, and the incense burner was made of gold with very high purity. The bamboo cutter was satisfied with the gold, accepted the girl (Kaguya), and treated her as his daughter Kaya. Kaguya had a special power of quick recovery. She could heal any wound by simply covering the wound with her hands. Kaguya grew up very fast and became a beautiful woman, who attracted all men in the city.
Also unlike the original story, only three suitors were described in this movie. They were Prince Kuramochi, the Minister of the Right Abe no Miushi and the Grand Counsellor Otomo no Miyuki. Also, an additional character, a blind woman whose name was Akeno Ao, was introduced in this movie as Kaguya's close friend, who taught Kaguya the meaning of love and being alive on the earth. Eventually, Prince Kuramochi and Abe no Miushi did not win Kaguya's love, but Kaguya did fall in love with Otomo. The emperor, on the other hand, was not attracted by Kaguya's beauty, but instead, treated Kaguya as his citizen who he had the responsibility to protect.
In the end of the story, a beautiful spacecraft-like object came to the Palace at a full-moon night and took Kaguya back to the moon, while the celestial robe of feathers was not mentioned.
[All images were from the movie, The Princess from the Moon (竹取物語).]
Kaguya entering the spacecraft and returning to the moon
The movie cover
The five suitors flattering Kaguya
Kaguya being taken back to the moon by a Buddha-like god
Kaguya refusing to have her eyebrow cut
Kaguya and Sutemaru staying together in their illusion
Kaguya lying on the ground, desiring for nature and freedom
Kaguya leaving the bamboo cutter couple
Kaguya still having the memory on the earth and tearing
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語) is an animation movie directed by Takahata Isao (高畑勲) and was released in 2013. Like the The Princess from the Moon, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya is also mostly based on the original story of the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, with some new characters added to shape a slightly different Kaguya.
Differences of this animation movie from the original story include, first of all, that the five tasks were not introduced by Kaguya. Instead, they were first used by the five suitors to flatter Kaguya's beauty. Hearing these hypocritical compliments, Kaguya decided to use these items to task the five suitors' determination. Also, Buddhist elements were incorporated at the end of the movie to describe the people from the moon. The leader of the group looked like a Buddha, although Buddhism was not involved in the original story at all. This innovation can be seen as the director's desire to combine traditional Japanese culture to the popular Buddhist religion in Japan, and to glorify Buddhism as a holy and pure religious group, just like the moon.
The desire for freedom and free love, one of the major characteristics of Kaguya, was highly emphasized on this movie. Shaped as a smart girl, although Kaguya could master all royal etiquettes very quickly, she did not want to be constrained by these strict rules. She refused to have her eyebrow cut, to have her teeth blackened, and to sit on one place for the entire day. She loved to run with bare feet, to lie on the group where flowers, insects and trees were living, and to hunt birds with her friends.
To intensify this conflict, a new character, Sutemaru, was created. Older and gentle, Sutemaru was treated as a brother and lover by Kaguya, but because he lived in a low-ranked family, Kaguya was not allowed to marry, or even play with, Sutemaru. Kaguya loved Sutemaru, but when she saw Sutemaru steal a chick for his poor family but she could do nothing for him, she felt helpless and despair. At the end of the movie, Sutemaru was married to another woman and had a child. Only in the dream could Sutemaru and Kaguya stayed together without worrying about status, family responsibility, and social rules.
One song kept being sung in this movie, わらべ唄, also reflects the theme of pursuing freedom:
まわれ まわれ まわれよ 水車まわれ
まわって お日さん 呼んでこい
まわって お日さん 呼んでこい
鳥 虫 けもの 草 木 花
春 夏 秋 冬 連れてこい
春 夏 秋 冬 連れてこい
まわれ まわれ まわれよ 水車まわれ
まわって お日さん 呼んでこい
まわって お日さん 呼んでこい
鳥 虫 けもの 草 木 花
咲いて 実って 散ったとて
生まれて 育って 死んだとて
風が吹き 雨が降り 水車まわり
せんぐり いのちが よみがえる
せんぐり いのちが よみがえる
Mail me around
Please come and see the sun.
Please come and see the sun.
Bird worm bamboo grass tree flower
Come with spring, summer autumn, winter
Come with spring, summer autumn, winter
Mail me around
Please come and see the sun.
Please come and see the sun.
Bird worm bamboo grass tree flower
As it bloomed and scattered
I was born and raised and died
Wind blows, it rains and it runs around a water wheel
Although freedom is not mentioned in this song, the description of the natural environment symbolizes Kaguya's desire for going into nature and playing with nature.
In the end, Kaguya left the bamboo cutter, his wife, the Palace, and all other family and friends, and returned to the moon, but unlike the original story, Kaguya's memory was not deleted by the celestial robe. She still remembered all experiences she had on the earth. She left with tears.
All images were from the movie, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語).
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