Spirited Away (A or 4/4 stars)
Prepare to be 'Spirited Away' when watching this fascinating Japanese film (directed by Hayao Miyazaki). 10 yr. old Chihiro is sad that her family is driving to their new home in the suburbs. Dad gets lost while taking a shortcut down a long, lonely road. After exiting their cars, they stumble upon what resembles a deserted carnival/circus/picnic scene. While mom & dad chow down on some food, Chihiro wanders off into a bizarre world where faceless spirits, Gods, witches, monsters & other mysterious creatures rule the land. Perplexing as it is enthralling, a testament to this film's greatness is that I actually sat through its 2 hour length, stopped, re-winded, & re-watched it immediately. I had to re-live the sensations it tickles, the emotions it stirs, & the visual splendor it offers ... all over again.
Scared by the visions she's seeing, Chihiro runs to find her parents, only to discover they've been turned into gluttonous pigs! A boy named Haku appears & offers to help by getting her a job in a nearby bathhouse. Little did she know that this bathhouse would be home to 8 million of Japan's Gods & spirits. Around every corner was a new & dangerous encounter. Luckily for Chihiro, she finds allies in the strangest of people: a boiler operator named Kamaji (half man-half spider). Kamaji is frightening, initially; but we soon realize that he wants young Chihiro to conquer the dangers within this mystical bathhouse.
Chihiro is also aided by a 'big sister'-type friend named Lin. The woman in charge of the bathhouse is a giant witch named Yubaba (dubbed over by Suzanne Pleshette). She is wicked (or so it seems), and is to blame for turning Chihiro's parents and many other humans into animals. You see, spirits strongly dislike human beings because they abuse the environment. If she can survive, Chihiro's main goal is to save her parents by breaking the spell that is put upon them before they wind up on somebody's dinner plate. Chihiro ultimately receives the most help from Yubaba's boy apprentice, who also happens to be Haku!
With surprises around every corner, landscapes constantly changing, men turning into dragons, babies turn into gargantuan mice, and the witch's prophecies coming true, Chihiro is forced to make sense of it all. Will her parents be saved? Can she escape Yubaba's clutches? What will become of the friends she's made? And ultimately ... what is real and what is fantasy? It all unfolds in a truly special conclusion. One that is surprisingly poignant, but also environmentally conscious. Director Miyazaki conveys strong pro-environment messages throughout the story.
This film is a visual masterpiece. I never thought I would ever see such imaginative imagery in my whole life that I saw in this one movie. And that such a well thought-out, life-affirming plot (Chihiro's journey to self-discovery) makes up the meat of the film is just a shockingly pleasant bonus. The world in which Chihiro stumbles upon is disturbing, dense & dreamy (think Labyrinth in animation). Its inhabitants are as complex & unsettling as its' vast landscapes. i.e., a dangerous 'river spirit' haunts the bathhouse; this character invokes fear in viewers both young & old. There's a segment where Chihiro rides a monorail across the shimmering Pacific Ocean. And at another point, an assembling of paper birds attacks a palace. Some of these visions may be too intense for young viewers.
That word of caution aside, this film's creativity is truly wondrous. Though I'm not a fan of the hand-drawn anime genre, 'Spirited Away' won me over with its meticulous blending of masterful artwork, ambiguous characters, and strong emotional impact. This is an unusual story, unusually illustrated, and told in an unusual way; one in which you can't believe your eyes as you watch, and can't guess what will pop up next ... now that's exciting.
Scared by the visions she's seeing, Chihiro runs to find her parents, only to discover they've been turned into gluttonous pigs! A boy named Haku appears & offers to help by getting her a job in a nearby bathhouse. Little did she know that this bathhouse would be home to 8 million of Japan's Gods & spirits. Around every corner was a new & dangerous encounter. Luckily for Chihiro, she finds allies in the strangest of people: a boiler operator named Kamaji (half man-half spider). Kamaji is frightening, initially; but we soon realize that he wants young Chihiro to conquer the dangers within this mystical bathhouse.
Chihiro is also aided by a 'big sister'-type friend named Lin. The woman in charge of the bathhouse is a giant witch named Yubaba (dubbed over by Suzanne Pleshette). She is wicked (or so it seems), and is to blame for turning Chihiro's parents and many other humans into animals. You see, spirits strongly dislike human beings because they abuse the environment. If she can survive, Chihiro's main goal is to save her parents by breaking the spell that is put upon them before they wind up on somebody's dinner plate. Chihiro ultimately receives the most help from Yubaba's boy apprentice, who also happens to be Haku!
With surprises around every corner, landscapes constantly changing, men turning into dragons, babies turn into gargantuan mice, and the witch's prophecies coming true, Chihiro is forced to make sense of it all. Will her parents be saved? Can she escape Yubaba's clutches? What will become of the friends she's made? And ultimately ... what is real and what is fantasy? It all unfolds in a truly special conclusion. One that is surprisingly poignant, but also environmentally conscious. Director Miyazaki conveys strong pro-environment messages throughout the story.
This film is a visual masterpiece. I never thought I would ever see such imaginative imagery in my whole life that I saw in this one movie. And that such a well thought-out, life-affirming plot (Chihiro's journey to self-discovery) makes up the meat of the film is just a shockingly pleasant bonus. The world in which Chihiro stumbles upon is disturbing, dense & dreamy (think Labyrinth in animation). Its inhabitants are as complex & unsettling as its' vast landscapes. i.e., a dangerous 'river spirit' haunts the bathhouse; this character invokes fear in viewers both young & old. There's a segment where Chihiro rides a monorail across the shimmering Pacific Ocean. And at another point, an assembling of paper birds attacks a palace. Some of these visions may be too intense for young viewers.
That word of caution aside, this film's creativity is truly wondrous. Though I'm not a fan of the hand-drawn anime genre, 'Spirited Away' won me over with its meticulous blending of masterful artwork, ambiguous characters, and strong emotional impact. This is an unusual story, unusually illustrated, and told in an unusual way; one in which you can't believe your eyes as you watch, and can't guess what will pop up next ... now that's exciting.