Tonight: “Princess Kaguya” closes out Studio Ghibli Fest 2019

It's been a long season for Studio Ghibli Fest 2019, but the final offering in the year's nine-film series will screen for the second and last time tonight.

That film, "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya," will screen at 7 p.m. at two Regal Cinemas theaters (Northtown Mall and Coeur d'Alene's Riverstone Stadium) and at AMC River Park Square. Tonight's film will be in the original Japanese with English subtitles (a dubbed version was screened on Monday).

Released in 2013, "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" was directed by Isao Takahata from a script co-written by Takahata and Riko Sagaguchi. The screenplay was adapted from a 10th-century Japanese folktale titled "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." The tale involves a miniature girl who is found inside a bamboo shoot, groomed to become a princess, courted by a series of men but who ultimately has to resolve her own fate.

Among the film's many good reviews, here are a few sample comments:

Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Mary Houlihan: "It's the beautiful and breathtaking animation that gives 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya' a luster that is both simple and sophisticated."

Charlotte O'Sullivan, London Evening Standard: "As you'd expect from the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Takahata has created a ravishing, technically perfect product and the hand-drawn, watercolour images explode with tender, humorous details."

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: "Exquisitely drawn with both watercolor delicacy and a brisk sense of line, the film finds a peculiarly moving undertow of feeling in a venerable Japanese folk tale about a foundling country girl who can't shake a sense of being out of place."

Can't wait to see what Studio Ghibli Fest will offer for 2020.