Princess Mononoke, directed by Japanese filmmaker and environmentalist Hayao Miyazaki and released in 1997, was Japan's largest grossing film ever. Now that it's finally released in the States, with a brilliant English adaptation by writer and cult figure Neil Gaiman and a slew of celebrity voices, we can share in this treat. Oddly, it has been done so well they are now showing the English version, subtitled in Japanese, back in Japan where it came from.

I'm not an anime fan, but I am a fan of parables and can appreciate good animation . . . and besides, we got free passes and my husband would have wept if I didn't go. I was surprised by this treat, and doubly surprised when the film was presented to the audience by Gaiman himself.

Mononoke opens with our hero figure, Ashitaka, riding through his mountain village to warn the villagers of an angry god, a boar with a rumbling mass of angry worm-like extensions. In saving the village from the demon, Ashitaka is cursed, and must leave to seek out the land of gods and monsters. It is this journey which begins the tale that, unlike the dualistic moral cartoons Disney weaves, has many characters who are neither good nor evil, but individuals with their own interests and agendas. These characters are often at odds with one another, but all are struggling to find balance between industrialism and nature. One can easily see why "Sandman" and "NeverWhere" author Gaiman (who when first asked to do the adaptation, intended to decline) couldn't resist such a tale: it is complex and multifaceted, and incorporates Jungian archetypes and mythological beasts.

Stylistically, the film is gorgeous. Instead of choosing one artistic style, it layers numerous styles, including anime, impressionism, realistic landscape, aboriginal imagery and surrealistic compositions. Adding to the effect are the voice talents of Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson, Claire Danes, Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton and Jada Pinkett. Gaiman did well with the difficult task of matching the English to the Japanese original, syllable by syllable, and still having the language flow naturally.

There are some special additions, including the coolest artistic interpretations of dryads I have ever seen, as well as some really gorgeous mythological beasts from both East and West. The dubbing doesn't miss a beat, and though the film is over two hours long, I hardly felt the time. Unlike many western animation films, there is some gore, but much of it is done humorously, and it isn't gratuitous. Some of our heroes are former prostitutes, lepers and the elderly, and no one felt the need to lend importance to the female characters by building them like Barbie dolls or making their raison d'être romance and marriage. There isn't a happy and majestic ending to this film--what Miyazaki makes clear is that if there is harmony between humans and animals, and industrialism and nature, it is tenuous at best, and there is no real way for either side to reign victorious. He says so without preachiness, but with humor, solid characters, a solid story, and gorgeous visual treats.

I didn't expect to like Mononoke, but I was floored by its genius, which made up for my expecting to love Fight Club and feeling sick to my stomach and hating it to the depths of my being. It is not uncommon for foreign films to make the schlock Hollywood churns out look trite, but it is unusual for it to be done quite so well and produced so beautifully. For those of you not lucky enough to have your viewing prefaced by Gaiman as I did, I'll follow his own sentiments in saying I'd see it again and again. In each of the premieres he has attended, he fully meant to leave the film after it had begun, having been immersed in it so much during its production, but at this point he has watched it over seven times in its entirety.