MYTHIC `MONONOKE' GOES BOLDLY.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

Japan's animated phenomenon ``Princess Mononoke'' has finally arrived, and it is indeed a wonder to behold. It often makes you wonder, too, what exactly is going on, pictorialism being a much stronger suit for director Hayao Miyazaki than narrative.

But even at its most confusing, ``Mononoke'' exerts a powerful mythic pull. Miyazaki set out to do no less than create an ecological fable that appreciates both the majesty of nature and mankind's drive to advance at nature's expense. It's a boldly complex story, rendered with loving artistry and atavistic fury, that some may just find complicated.

That can't, apparently, be blamed on cultural miscues. Though Miyazaki based much of his monster- and samurai-filled adventure on Japanese legend, it's been reported that much of the film's huge box-office gross in Japan - some $150 million, more than any other movie except ``Titanic'' has made in that country - is to a good degree based on people going back several times to try to figure the whole thing out.

The English-language adaptation was written by comic book writer Neil Gaiman and Jack Fletcher, a veteran dubber of Japanese anime who also directed the translated version's voice talent. They necessarily have to shove a lot of exposition into the characters' mouths, but lyrical passages and some good, vulgar humor balance out the clunkier dialogue.

For the most part, though, the best way to experience this film is by surrendering to the visuals. Working for the first time with computer graphics, the master animator creates striking tableaux and exhilarating action sequences. There are equal doses of grotesque horror (heaps of human and animal carcasses, wormlike wound infections), coy humor (little, gossamer forest sprites whose heads rattle adorably) and magesterial beauty. Clouds, leaves, water, light and often people don't exactly move in a realistic way, but their starkly stylized composition often appears an improvement on nature's design.

The story, set during the Muromachi period (1392-1573), involves the young warrior Ashitaka (voiced by Billy Crudup), who must leave his village when he's infected by a mad, rampaging boar-god. Riding his dependable red elk Yakul, he heads for a faraway forest that is being encroached upon by iron smelters. The workers - many of whom are lepers and ex-prostitutes just trying to make a respectable living - are led by Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver), a formidable, pragmatic she-warrior whose only dependable loyalties are to her people - or maybe just to herself.

In the forest, giant wolf-goddess Moro (Gillian Anderson) plots the humans' destruction with the help of Mononoke (Claire Danes), a feral girl whom Moro has raised from infancy. Ashitaka tries to run interference between the two sides and bonds with the initially reluctant Mononoke in the process.

That should be enough plot for your average cartoon feature, but ``Mononoke,'' which runs nearly an hour longer than most U.S. animated movies, throws in much, much more. There are at least two other contending human factions, conflicts between the various animal spirits, and a gargantuan, overlording deer god who changes powers as fast as he changes shape, which is often reminiscent of a really cooking lava lamp.

``Mononoke'' serves up some pretty violent imagery (Miyazaki is big on beheadings) that is sure to upset very young viewers - or, at least, upset their parents. The film's PG-13 rating is wholly justified, for that and for the fact that the best way to enjoy ``Princess Mononoke'' is to ponder its impressions, not wait for its points to become fully clarified.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Princess Mononoke'' (PG-13; violence, language).

The stars: Voices of Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Written by Miyazaki, Neil Gaiman and Jack Fletcher. Produced by Toshio Suzuki. Released by Miramax Films.

Running time: Two hours, 13 minutes.

Playing: Sunset 5, West Hollywood; Monica, Santa Monica.

Our rating: Three stars.

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Photo

Photo: San/Mononoke and Ashitaka are warriors fighting to save their forest in the Japanese anime film ``Princess Mononoke.''