Once again I embark upon this mission of presenting seldom talked about movies to people, movies, which are brilliant but almost unheard of in India. In my previous reviews too I have been ranting about how good films never make it to India when every bit of trash does. It happens rarely that I choose an animated film as my film of the month, but I have to say that ’’Spirited Away’’ deserves much much more than that. Even though the film was made about 2 yrs ago (Japan), Disney’s dubbed version of the film was released only recently. I finally managed to see it a few weeks ago.
Some info:
Director: Hayao Miyazaki (previous ventures ’’My Neighbour Totoro’’ and ’’Princess Mononoke’’)
Duration: 125 mins
Oscar winner for the best animated feature (2002)
Spirited away is perhaps, one of the best animated films I have ever seen in my life. I know this sounds like such a clichéd statement. But believe me, its absolutely true. Spirited away is a magical and enchanting film about a little girl’s adventures in a supernatural world. When starting to watch the movie you can’t but fail to make comparisons with certain well-known characters. I am talking about Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) and Alice (Alice in Wonderland). But trust me these comparisons are only vague reminders of similar stories and nothing else. As in Chihiro, the main character of this Oscar-winning movie, also falls into an alternate reality and encounters the strangest creatures possible.
Brief story:
The movie starts with Chihiro, a young girl, lying on the back seat of a car, feeling quite sad and indifferent. Her parents are moving to a different place but obviously she doesn’t approve of it at all (new place, new school, new friends.. tough for anyone). They are within the sight of their new home and the father turns the car into a small deserted road thinking that this would be a shortcut to their house. The road seems to be going nowhere through the woods until they reach a tunnel. The father being curious, as most men are, wants to know what the tunnel is for and obviously, what’s on the other side? Although Chihiro is reluctant at first she is helpless and follows her parents. What they find on the other side is this amazing landscape and what appears to be an abandoned amusement park. I won’t reveal the rest of the story to you and let you experience it first hand. Believe me if I did it would spoil the treat for you. I’ll only say that what follows next is a delightful saga of adventures, good and evil spirits, magical spells and so on.
Characters
What can you say about the characters in an animated movie? I wish I could say they acted really well.. hee hee. But seriously, think about best acting awards for characters in an animated movie. Imagine a 2D world, which holds unbiased 2D academy award ceremonies every year. If that were the case I would surely hand over a 2D oscar for best acting to Chihiro and an oscar for best actor in a supporting role to Haku, her savior. Ok ok I know, enough of that. I will only say that all the characters in the movie are very well crafted. ’’No face’’, ’’Yubaba’’, ’’Zeniba’’, ’’Stink spirit’’ - are all very impressive.
Finally
According to some estimates Spirited away has broken all box office records in Japan. This film grossed something like 240 odd million even before getting released in US and Europe. Apart from wining the Oscar for best animated film it has won scores of other awards. So much so that Disney was desperate to dub it and release it to a wider audience. This film is a beautiful masterpiece from the master of animation Miyazaki. The film does not conform to the usual plots in its particular genre and is totally unpredictable. So go and see this, coz if you haven’t you are missing a wonderful experience.
To sum it all up I’ll say this: ’’Spirited Away’’ beats cry baby Potter ANY DAY.
Definitely a MUST see.