Spirited Away!

Review on: 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) or “Spirited Away” movie (animation/anime).
(spoiler alerts, as always. just some, i won’t give everything away).

Such a beautiful movie.
That’s a meager attempt at describing the movie with what it evokes and entails. 

This isn’t a new movie though. It was released in 2001/2002, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (also known for Princess Mononoke). I just had a chance to read a recommendation about it and i’m really glad i saw it.

The movie tells the story of a girl named ‘Chiharu’ and her undertakings on a strange world that she and her parents stumbled upon by accident. On their way to their new house, they found a tunnel that leads to a deserted ‘theme park’. Her parents was intrigued at the place and decided to look around until they found a restaurant full of palatable delights but with no people around. With the exception of a really annoyed and scared Chiharu, they begun to gulp down and eat some food, thinking that they’d pay the bill once the owner returns. The irritated Chiharu looks around until she met a strange boy (Haku) at the entrance of a bath house (a towering one at that). He told her that she shouldn’t be there. So, she ran back to her parents only to find that they have turned into pigs!

This is where Chiharu’s adventure from a scrawny girl to the rescuer of her clueless parents begin. She needed to stay at that strange place to try to find a way to restore her parents to human form and go back home. They were in a world full of strange spirits, creatures and magic. Here she would meet both friendly and quite ‘unfriendly’ beings (but not evil). Here she would learn to be polite, to do chores, to befriend other people or creatures and to overcome her fear to find a way to save her parents. It was courage and love that comes from her childhood innocence that were tested, time and again to reach her goal.

The movie touches the heart so easily as it is filled with mysteries that enhances the innocence that pervades the whole time but at the same time carries weight on emotions and story.

It has elements of the following:

1. Greek mythology (The Odyssey) – pertaining to Circe’s enchanted food 
2. Harry Potter – what with that magical world filled with moving lamp posts and clutter that clean themselves up
3. Alice in Wonderland – a girl lost in a strange land with strange creatures, need i say more?
4. Never Ending Story – you’ll see why, near the end of the movie
5. The Storyteller –another Jim Henson’s, mainly because of the creatures and their (anthromorphic) transformations.
6. The Last Unicorn – another involving animation about magic, courage and love.. and yes, Unicorns.
5. Japanese culture/anime – of course! the bathhouse, the clothes, folklore (spirits, etc) and the animation style 

With all of the above, it is still a unique story and one that is moving, giving you the feeling of innocence and happiness that is light.

I was actually a bit surprised that i was not creeped out as some of the scenes for me were a bit disturbing. There are pets that look like decapitated heads, a creature that eats and regurgitates uncontrollably and a granny that looks really scary (for me). Okay, the point is not to scare or gross you out: the point is to warn you that this shouldn’t be watched while eating spaghetti with meatballs. Definitely, children should watch this with their parents or some adults.  I’m not a member of the censorship board, but that is my recommendation.

One other thing to note is how perfect the soundtrack is for this movie. It evokes the sense of childhood innocence and curiosity. Every scene is perfectly matched by the music playing in the background.

Spirited Away is one special animation film (anime since it’s Japanese after all, but was released through Walt Disney for the English version) that had won heavy acclaim (from several award giving bodies, including the Academy Awards) and great success at the box office (particularly in Japan, of course).

Enough of the technicalities though. This is such a beautiful movie that NEEDS to be watched by any one regardless if they like animation (or ‘cartoons’, as referred to by some) or not. It just transcends the form of media used to something that is worth watching and contemplating on.

I URGE you to watch it.

Happy watching!

Additional Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirited_Away
http://www.impawards.com/2002/spirited_away_ver2.html 
http://www.amazon.com/Spirited-Away-Hayao-Miyazaki/dp/B00005JLEU