Princess Arete

Sunao Katabuchi's 2001 anime is adapted from Diana Coles's book and inverts the shape of a fairy tale. Princess Arete is kept shut in a castle tower; while knights compete to find magical objects for the right to marry her, she is curious about the lives of ordinary people and wants to go outside. A sorcerer abducts her because a prophecy says this girl will take his immortality from him. The film uses almost no adventure; the telling is slow, quiet and inward, and Arete's deliverance comes not by the sword but from continuing to be curious. The design draws on European medieval illumination and the palette is kept pale. It was Katabuchi's first feature and was little seen at the time. Who it's for: viewers who like calm animation and unconventional fairy tales. Who it's not for: anyone expecting an eventful adventure; the film is still on purpose.