Seijun Suzuki’s Princess Raccoon (2005) is a bit of a surprise. You may remember him for the odd, bleak and violent Japanese gangster movies of the 60s, like Branded to Kill. Maybe you saw the very odd, colorful and violent Pistol Opera. This one is just as odd, but not violent at all! It’s actually a kid friendly fantasy.
It starts with the king of a magical kingdom - represented by painted backdrop and simple props. The magic well tells him he is the fairest in the land (he’s actually kind of old and weird) but that his son will soon be more beautiful. So he casts his son out into the world. There he meets a beautiful tanuki princess - tanuki being Japanese magic badger-dog-raccoon creatures. Since they are shapeshifters, this princess looks just like a Zhang Ziyi. Now, it is specifically a bad idea for a human to love a tanuki, and so they have many adventures and trials.
But the story isn’t what is so much fun about this. It is done is a completely theatrical style, with painted backdrops for everything. Suzuki uses Japanese folk dance, kabuki, and Japanese musical theater stylings. So there will be a slow formalized dance number to express the love of the two stars. Then a chorus of an old style J-Pop tune. Clouds that are just painted flats roll in, to change the scene. It’s kind of magical. And definitely, like all the Suzuki movies I’ve seen, odd.
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