Spirited Away is a Japanese anime movie, a 2001 offering directed by the celebrated Mr Miyazaki .Miyazaki is well known amid anime fans for his work such as Princess Mononoke and Castle in the sky.
The story starts with a young girl, Chihiro, who is about to move to a new house, new town, and a new school, leaving behind everything she knows. She sets off in the car with her family, and her dad, not knowing where he is going (and perhaps reluctant, like most me, to take directions!) decides to take a scenic route through a forest.
When they come to the end of the forest track, far from finding the new home they were seeking, they instead encounter a strange tunnel guarded by a statue. Reluctant to turn back and admit defeat, the party (after some protest from Chihiro) continues through the tunnel on foot, little knowing that it’s a passageway to another world.
At end of the tunnel they come across a town entirely consisting of restaurants, and find that the whole place is eerily deserted. They follow a delicious smell into one stall in particular, and find it stuffed with delicious food, but still no staff. The parents decide to eat now, pay later, but, reluctant to steal, Chihiro wonders off to explore.
She makes it as far as the bridge before she encounters a young man, who warns her that night, is coming, and she must leave before it gets dark. As the darkness descends, he gets more agitated, and pushes her to go, offering to distract ’them’ whoever they may be.
Chihiro returns to her parents and tries without success to stop her parents gorging themselves -They’ve turned into pigs. And as night falls Chihiro finds herself trapped in a world of spirits, and slowly becoming invisible
Chihiro must let go of her childishness and use maturity and wisdom to save not only herself from becoming invisible, but also her parents from being eaten. However, she can only do this if she fights against the theft of her name, as if she forgets, she’ll be bound to the spirit world, and probably turned into a pig herself. As she becomes more involved in the world of spirits, we see her become more confident, polite, and self-reliant.
This story to this film is both simple and complex. It’s easy enough for a child to follow and be entertained by, but adults will be kept guessing for hours as all the little subtleties reveal themselves. It reminds me a little of Alice in Wonderland: a young girl, essentially alone in a strange world she doesn’t understand, with things becoming clearer with every twist in the plot.
The characters are well developed, diverse and show real human complexity of spirit. The bad guys aren’t all bad, and the good guys not entirely good. A few are just plain schizophrenic. I like this; I find it refreshing to watch a movie and end up feeling sorry for the person I initially perceived as the chief evil person. Similarly, No-face, who starts off as a confused but essentially good spirit, becomes incredibly evil, and then goes back to being kind again. Hmm, Must be that time of the month.
The dubbing is actually pretty good, and well timed not to clash with the animation. The animation itself was AMAZING. If I hadn’t been commenting ’It’s so beautiful’ every few minutes, I might have forgotten it wasn’t a real place, as some of the detail in the animation was amazing. Facial expressions and body language seem to have received close attention from the animators, giving a more realistic feeling to the amazing fantasy world.
The music also helped. The movie would not have been the same without a little help
from Joe Hisaishi. His music is surreal and sublime, and seamlessly puts across the moods and emotions current in the animation. I would say this has to be one of the most impressive music scores I’ve heard in a long time, by times evocative, at other times thundering, but at all times beautiful. And it just perfectly emphasises the storyline without ever overpowering it.
I think this japanimation is aimed at younger audiences than other Miyazaki work, as there’s no sex, swearing or violence in this movie. But you don’t have to be a child to be swept up in the sheer magic and beauty of this Miyazaki masterpiece.
Overall, a visually astounding film I’d very highly recommend to children and adults alike.The only con is that very young children (below 6 or so) will find the plot a little confusing and may find some of the ghosts a little scary.
Certificate – PG
Year – 2001
Languages – Japanese / English
Voice Cast: Daveigh Chase ; Jason Marsden ; Lauren Holly ; Michael Chiklis ; Suzanne Pleshette
Run time - approx. 2 hours and 12 minutes
Thanks for reading.