Princess Raccoon

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.

Princess Raccoon
Japanese theatrical poster
Directed by	Seijun Suzuki
Written by	Yoshio Urasawa
Produced by	Nobuyuki Tohya Satoru Ogura Ikki Katashima
Starring	Zhang Ziyi Joe Odagiri Hiroko Yakushimaru Saori Yuki Mikijiro Hira
Cinematography	Yonezo Maeda
Music by	Michiru Oshima Ryomei Shirai
Production companies	Dentsu Kadokawa Eiga Shochiku Eisei Gekijō Ogura Jimusho ^[1]
Distributed by	Nippon Herald Films
Release date	May 28, 2005 (2005-05-28)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese / Mandarin

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

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

External links

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