It's a post-apocalyptic adventure of the young warrior-princess Nausicaa--whose character is a hybrid of the Phoenician princess who healed Odysseus in Homer's The Odyssey and "The Girl Who Loved Insects" from the Japanese fairy tale of the same name. Perhaps it is this melding of cultural origins that strikes me as such an original voice, when Tolkien's western influences (and Tolkien himself) had been pillaged for all they're worth by the time I was old enough to read.

Allegedly the film version (also by Miyazaki), after numerous false and changed release dates, will finally be released today on DVD in the US. They're actually advertising it this time on TV and in the Best Buy ads so it's probably real this time. But I'll believe it when it's in my hands. If Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki's Delivery Service are anything to go by, I'd wager it'll be the most imaginative film I'll see all year, no matter what I remember or don't remember.

I've been waiting to see this film for almost two decades. But if that excruciating delay took me on a detour that introduced me to the original comic, I've got nothing to complain about.

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Posted by: John A at March 6, 2005 11:01 AM

Posted by: alex at March 6, 2005 6:14 PM