The Tale of Princess Kaguya 2013

     This film is based on a famous Japanese folktale.  An elderly bamboo cutter finds a tiny girl inside a shining stalk of bamboo.  Right away she changes into a baby and she grows very quickly.  She is very happy playing with other children who live nearby.  The bamboo cutter later finds gold coins in the bamboo grove.  He and his wife decide Kaguya needs to go to the city and be trained to accept her role as a princess.  She has a difficult time with her instructions but she decides she must follow their wishes.  When five suitors come to court her, she chooses to give them each a quest to prove how much they care for her.

     Kaguya wants to honor the wishes of the bamboo cutter but it requires her to push down everything she cares about.  It’s almost the last straw when she must address the five suitors.  I was only slightly surprised about the outcome with the suitors but I was surprised about the ending!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

137 min, Animation directed by Isao Takahata with the voices of Chloe Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburger, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, Beau Bridges, James Marsden, Oliver Platt, Hynden Walch, Dean Cain, George Segal, John Cho.

Note:  Imdb 8.1 out of 10, 100% critic 92% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*.

Special Note:  The release I watched is the English language version but the original film is in Japanese.  The name Kaguya means radiant night.