Princess Raccoon

2005 Japanese film

Nobuyuki Tohya
Satoru Ogura
Ikki Katashima

Starring

Zhang Ziyi
Joe Odagiri
Hiroko Yakushimaru
Saori Yuki
Mikijiro Hira

CinematographyYonezo MaedaMusic by

Michiru Oshima
Ryomei Shirai

Production
companies

Dentsu
Kadokawa Eiga
Shochiku
Eisei Gekijō
Ogura Jimusho

^[1]

Distributed byNippon Herald Films

Release date

May 28, 2005 (2005-05-28)

Running time

111 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapanese / Mandarin

Princess Raccoon (オペレッタ狸御殿, Operetta tanuki goten) is a 2005 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki.^[2] The "raccoon" of the English title is actually a translation for the tanuki or Japanese raccoon-dog. It is a love story set in the musical genre and stars Zhang Ziyi as a tanuki princess and Joe Odagiri as the banished prince she falls in love with. The film premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.^[3] It was the last film Suzuki directed.

Plot

The Lord of Castle Grace, Azuchi Momoyama (Mikijiro Hira), is used to ask a prophetess (Saori Yuki) to confirm he is the fairest of all living things. On one occasion, the prophetess reveals that his son Prince Amechiyo (Joe Odagiri) will soon become the fairest. Azuchi Momoyama orders his son to be killed at Sacred Mountain. The plan fails when the assassin is trapped by racoon hunters. While Amechiyo sleeps, Princess Racoon (Zhang Ziyi), finds him and takes him to the Raccoon Palace. Soon, Amechiyo and the Princess are in love. The Racoons are against the romance because it is a known law that "No man should love a racoon. Even less should a racoon ever love a man". Azuchi Monoyama learns his son is still alive so he engages in a war to get him killed. Amechiyo has to look for a golden frog deep in the mountain to save the princess. It appears that the lovers' romance is doomed.

Cast

Zhang Ziyi as Princess Raccoon
Joe Odagiri as Amechiyo
Hiroko Yakushimaru as Hagi
Mikijiro Hira as Azuchi Momoyama
Tarō Yamamoto
Gentaro Takahashi
Saori Yuki
Miwako Ichikawa

References

^ オペレッタ狸御殿 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Pictures. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
^ "オペレッタ狸御殿" (in Japanese). kotobank. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Princess Raccoon". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-12-13.

External links

Princess Raccoon at IMDb
Princess Raccoon at AllMovie
Official website (in Japanese) at Kadokawa-Herald Pictures, Inc.

Films directed by Seijun Suzuki

Victory Is Mine
Eight Hours of Terror
The Naked Woman and the Gun
Underworld Beauty
Young Breasts
Voice Without a Shadow
Take Aim at the Police Van
Everything Goes Wrong
Go to Hell, Hoodlums!
Man with a Shotgun
Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards!
Youth of the Beast
The Bastard
Kanto Wanderer
The Flower and the Angry Waves
Gate of Flesh
Our Blood Will Not Forgive
Story of a Prostitute
Stories of Bastards: Born Under a Bad Star
Tattooed Life
Carmen from Kawachi
Tokyo Drifter
Fighting Elegy
Branded to Kill
A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness
Zigeunerweisen
Kagero-za
Capone Cries a Lot
Legend of the Gold of Babylon
Yumeji
Pistol Opera
Princess Raccoon

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