Princess Raccoon

Legendary Director Seijun Suzuki gives us a unique experience of a musical/operaetta with a style you're unlikely to experience. At it's core it's about a prince who avoids his murderous father's minions and starts a star-crossed romance with a Tanuki Princess. How it is told is an amazing piece of uninhibited artistry.Though a musical, the numbers themselves vary widely, from classic broadway and opera to rap and prog rock. One scene may be outdoors, another on a colorful set, yet another against a beautiful watercolor background. There's an utter joy to this film, making it not so much a musical, but a love letter to musicals and musical productions. It also means you'll never have an idea of what's coming next.The cast of talented performers is obviously enjoying their roles, and even those playing minor characters are having fun. They're also dressed in gorgeous outfits, adding to the richness of the production.The only warning I can add is that though the film is a work of brilliance and love, it may be too unusual for some people. It's in no way a typical musical or film - in some ways it's more akin to movies like Yellow Submarine, Son of the White Mare, or Interstella 5555. It's beautiful, surreal, and a work of love.But if you want something truly lovely and different and beautiful, this may be a great film for you. Even if you aren't a fan of Seijun Suzuki you may enjoy it - and if you are you better own it!The DVD quality was quite good overall, and the rich colors were well carried.

As noted in the product description, "Princess Raccoon" is a musical romantic comedy. The premise: a young prince, who has no mother but has a father intent on being the "fairest of all," is underhandedly exiled for developing into someone threateningly handsome; while he is being smuggled to a land where he is to undergo some sort of horrific fate, the "Ostrich Monk" court assassin loses the prince in the forest of the raccoons (or, rather, "tanuki" who often function in Japanese myth like the raven in Native American myth); the prince falls in love with a beautiful woman, who turns out to be the raccoon princess on an unscheduled outing, and she falls for him-- a bad thing, which gets him locked up by the rest of the raccoons. Hijinks ensue.Some reviews describe "Princess Raccoon" as a surreal musical comedy. That is an understatement. Relying on equal parts of traditional designs, stage sets, wide vistas, and chaos, "Princess Raccoon" is more like something that would have resulted were Gilbert and Sullivan oriental, modern, and not interested in character development. It pokes definite (and inaccurate) fun at Catholicism, Disney concepts, hide-bound male-female relationships, western theatre, and eastern theatre. Unfortunately, in stuffing all of this potentially good comedy in, the continuity suffers tremendously.The costumes are magnificent. The music is charming. The plot is slow to start and very rushed, though, and then there's the problem of following the convolutions through sub-par dialogue.Two Stars: Rent it, don't own it. The problems outweigh the delights.

This is a rare gem, but some people get thrown off by the abstract Portuguese background, but they forget that they were the first Europeans there. It's kabuki theater come to film!

the whole movie was an acid trip. I loved the set designs and the dance numbers were funny - there's a scene where men crawl under women twerking in kimonos with baskets strapped to their butts, so strange is an understatement. i'd def recommend it, although it is a VERY weird movie.

Loved this movie. I'm a westerner, spent time in Japan, loved this live-action fairy-tale love story. Even though the writer/director is somewhere in his 80's, he has a funny, surprising and high-energy style that will enchant you. If you're used to Disney and Pixar, maybe you should give it a miss, because it's off-beat and surprising--but I'm buying a copy for myself--loved it.

A different film than we may be used to, but for fans, can be a single viewing dvd. Not great, not horrible, just different

Funny story and music,very good video quality(looks like blu-ray),colorful image.You will see Ziyi singing and dancing.Collection for Asian movie lover and Ziyi's fans

The subtitles appear to be translated literally, word for word, and as such make very little sense. Given the surreal nature of the film, this makes it very difficult to follow any sort of "plot". Visually stunning, though.

This is a truly astonishing film. I continue to be amazed at the films coming out of the far East, especially Japan. This one shows, quite openly, their ability to take as they please from other cultures, jumble it all up in a giant pot, and still it comes out 100% Japanese. In this case there are clear references to Buddhism, Catholicism as well as ancient tradition, funky Western music and rap (yes, rap), spoken Chinese, Portugese and Italian, all jumbled up amongst traditional Japanese language, music and culture. And yet never for a moment is this anything other than a classic native story.It is an operetta based on a traditional story just as one finds in any culture, the classic story of forbidden love where, despite the odds, love wins out. But do not think that this is just some pantomime. This is a cavalcade of extraordinary sets, costumes, singing, dance, criminally cute girls, bizarre instruments, stylised fights and abstract concepts. All the gooey drama and occasional twinkly music did not stop me being riveted to my seat. Not one bit is not filled with fascination. It also contains production techniques it's hard to imagine anyone in the West daring to use.To the uninitiated in Eastern film, it may be too much to take in, but I highly recommend this film. It is a PG and I would imagine that the young will find it much more accessible than many of their parents.

great fun movie,another winner from Suzuki...A fun filled romp,highly recommended....Superb cast...The sound of music on steroids,well worth checking out further films from this director.