Customer Reviews

Princess Raccoon

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

I found out about this movie because I really enjoy most of the movies that Zhang Ziyi is in due them being some what "artsy". This one was definatly no exception. Watching it and speaking English is not a problem as there are subtitles. Its basily a love story/musical, and any fan of art movies or Zhang Ziyi should view it. Great music, great acting, beautiful colors and sets and quite funny at times as well. Dont miss it. I only wish that the DVD extras, in particular the interviews with the cast was subtitled. It is not, but is still worth watching the extras even when you cant understand a thing.

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

and this film -- quite pretty in itself -- is great fun in every respect. And its various "meanings" begin to reveal themselves with repeated viewings.

And the "Making of" extras -- which are quite extensive, from her first meeting with the director to the tearsome film wrap-up -- are also English-subtitled in this release.

Charming all around. So much so I now have three different releases of it for their different covers.

The storyline is quite silly and so is much of the acting and music, but Ziyi is just breathtakingly gorgeous as princess raccoon in this Japanese "operetta." She also shows off her graceful dance moves. Too bad she doesn't really have as many scenes as a Ziyi fan would have liked. A must-see for all Ziyi fans as well as others interested in eccentric Asian flicks. Quite a change from the usual fistfights stuff -- and all that gangster stuff from the same director. In short, a strange movie, but quite entertaining if you don't mind the oddities.

BTW I bought my copy from "rhstore" in Ohio via Amazon Marketplace (see "used" link to the right) and it's a Hong Kong release by Mei Ah and it's region-free and NTSC (i.e., North America), with English and Chinese subtitles. (Reportedly Ziyi delivers her lines in Chinese but sings in Japanese.)

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

I am a Big Fan of Zhang Ziyi. I have seen most of her movies. I purchased this movie because it was unavailable in any video stores.
The movie as a whole was disappointing, very silly and there was zero chemistry between the male and female leads. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the extras(even though they were not subtitled). I could watch my favorite actress up close an personal.

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.

I am a fan of Zhang Ziyi and watched her on screen since she was introduced to US in "Crouching Tiger". I bought this DVD because I wanted to find and collect movies not very well publicized but in which Zhang is the star. This movie is a complete disaster and waste of money. Were the Cannes officials watching the same movie that I just watched?

I'm part Japanese but I found this musical is so alien to my American-bred sensibilities that it seemed very strange and creepy. It colorful in a gaudy way with very cartoonish qualities. At least, it has the adorable Zhang Ziyi at the center (she's speaks mostly Chinese in this Japanese film).

The best part of the DVD for me was the behind-the-scenes featurette which focused on Zi. I was surprised that she switched to English a few times when talking with her Chinese/Japanese translator. And there's a "cute" moment when a little girl, an extra, speaks to Zi in English (you'll understand the quotes after seeing it).

This one, you might want to rent first before deciding to purchase.