Horus, prince of the Sun

Synopsis

Grunwald , a being with the capacities malefic, was sworn to get rid of the men. It fights them in particular in their sending wolves.

Horus is an alive boy isolated with his father, who had fled after the attack of their village. Right before dying, the father reveals the existence of the other human ones to him and advises in Horus to go to join to them his.

The inhabitants of the village are famished because a monster, sent by Grunwald, deprives them of the fish of which they are accustomed to being nourished. Horus will help the villagers to fight. It meets also a mysterious young girl with the envoûtant song, Hilda and Moog , the man-rock, which has a sword planted in the top of the arm. Horus manages to withdraw it, and Moog makes him gift of it. He teaches him that this sword is famous the sword of the Sun and that the day when it will manage to control it will have become the prince of the Sun .

Realization

Started in 1965, this film was completed only in 1968, following many conflicts between the team of creation (Takahata but also Hayao Miyazaki,…) and leaders of the studio Toei and with budgetary problems.

Even if it is not on the same level of quality as films carried out in the years 1980-90 by the two realizers of the Studio Ghibli, this film marks the starting point of the decisional seizure of power of the creators (scenario writers, realizers) on the level of the direction of film, at the expense of the leaders of the studio.

The studio (Toei) wanted to make films with exclusive destination of the children, but the team which carried out film wished to create a film that it would want to see, and was demanding on the level of quality to reach.

It was the first film to join together Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki and Yoichi Kotabe, they left then the Toei studio to form another studio, independent, where it créerent in particular Panda KB Panda.

Historical context

At the time of an intervention for the exit of this film in France, Isao Takahata announced that he noticed similarities in the two times political context: in the years 1960, it was the American intervention in Vietnam, and in 2003-4 it is in Iraq. In both cases the Japanese found themselves in an uncomfortable position, divided between their will to support their American allies, and the fact of not really agreeing (in any case on the level of the public opinion) in connection with these interventions.

The really interesting character of film, it is Hilda, with complex personality, because it is found in fact in the same situation as Japan at the time. But the creators also wondered about the feelings which an American soldier in Vietnam could feel in order to enrich psychology by this character.

The time was also marked by an economic strong growth. But the time, it is also that where Japan was struck by the business of the pollution of bay of Minamata, which had with the illegal toxic rejections of an industrial company, Chisso . That shows the end of the respect of the nature, which (according to the realizer) was before an essential aspect of the Japanese culture.

Industrialization with large scales also causes a weakening of the human reports/ratios, the disappearance of the idea of village community.

The authors had all these concerns at the head when they carried out this film, and one can thus find some echoes there.

Data sheet

Comings out date: July 21st 1968 (Japan), February 4th 2004 (France)

See too

Complete records on Horus on Buta-connection.net
Horus, prince of the Sun on Internet Movie Database

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