The Month of Miyazaki concludes with one of Miyazaki’s most
praised and beloved films Spirited Away.
Background
Spirited Away was
released in 2001 four years after the huge success of Miyazaki’s film Princess Mononoke. That film was
completely different from anything he had done previously. It was a much
darker, more mature film that is arguably his greatest work. After he did this
it took him a few years to come back to making films. He came back with Spirited Away, a more upbeat film that has
a very young protagonist that is flawed, but relatable little girl. This film
blew audiences away with its creativity, stunning, animation, and inventive
world. The film was the first major success in the United States for Studio
Ghibli. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which is rare for a
foreign film. It is very important in Miyazaki’s career and I feel it is only
right that I chose one of the most highly praised Miyazaki films to end this
month.
Plot (Taken from
IMDB)
“Chihiro and her parents are moving to
a small Japanese town in the countryside and Chihiro is missing her old house.
Chihiro's father makes a wrong turn and drives through a lonely land road with
dead end in a tunnel. Her parents decide to stop the car and explore the area.
They cross the tunnel and find an abandoned cultural theme park on the other
side with a ghost town. When her parents sees a restaurant with smelling food
but no staff, they decide to eat to pay later; however Chihiro refuses to eat and
decides to visit the place. She meets the boy Haku that tells her that her
parents and she are in danger and they must leave the place. She runs to the
restaurant and finds that her parents have turned into pigs. Further, the place
is a bathhouse of spirits, monsters, gods and ghosts owned by the witch Yubaba.
Now Chihiro counts on Haku to save her parents and return to their world.” Written by Claudio
Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Review
First off I have to say the World created in this film is
stunning. The complexity and order in the world that is created is astounding.
The little girl, Chihiro, discovers this world as we do she quickly becomes someone
that we as the audience can relate to. She makes mistakes throughout the film
and this adds a sense of vulnerability to her in which we feel very much for
her. Miyazaki always uses young female protagonists
and this film may be the best use. As much as she is a hero and brave in many
aspects, she still is a little girl. In many scenes you can tell the fear and
confusion that she feels. Miyazaki has stated that he based Chihiro on the
daughter of a friend of his that used to come by his house a lot. Like the real
life girl, Chihiro starts off as being sort of distant and unhappy with her
family like many girls that age.
The style of this film feels very different from the other
Miyazaki films. Much of the film takes place at night and the design of the
spirits is very different. Many of these spirits are not cute like the totoro
are. They are often very creepy and bizarre. The other Miyazaki films often
have a more focused narrative (with the exception of My Neighbor Totoro), but this film does not have a straightforward
narrative. Much of the film takes place with Chihiro trying to live with these
spirits. Contrary from what it sounds
like this is a very good thing. The film is an experimental and spiritual
journey. The world and the environment alongside
the brilliant animation and designs of the spirits add up to becoming an
extremely captivating film. There is
always something fascinating happening on screen and there is never a dull
moment.
The characters are also very strong in this film. The relationship between the spirit Haku and
Chihiro is extremely important to the plot.
There are many revelations concerning Haku that I can’t explain without
ruining the film. You will just have to see it for your self to see what I mean
when I say that it is brilliant and just adds a whole other layer of character
development and depth to this film. The
film has not yet received a blu ray release at the time of writing this review,
but I do believe that there will be a release sometime in the near future. You
can still see it on DVD however (Here on Amazon).
Overall Thoughts
Spirited Away is a
brilliant film in all aspects. The animation and the character design is truly
something to marvel. This is not my favorite Miyazaki film, but I still
absolutely love it. I can’t deny the impact that it has made on the art of
animation and how much it affected me while watching it. It is obvious that Miyazaki
has put all of his heart and soul into making this film, which has many lessons
that both children and adults can get out of it. I admire Miyazaki and this film in
particular. It is an absolute must see if you plan on watching any Miyazaki or
any Studio Ghibli films. Go out and see it for your self. You won’t regret it.
Score
5 out of 5
Month of Miyazaki
Conclusion
This brings us to the conclusion of the Month of
Miyazaki. I hope that you all have
enjoyed reading these reviews as much as I have enjoyed writing. I believe that
Hayao Miyazaki is a legend who should be more revered over here in the United
States. Thanks to Disney’s goal to dub
every Ghibli film it opens up a whole new way for non-Japanese viewers to enjoy
these beautiful films. Miyazaki is a
master of animated features and I hope my reviews convinced you to give his
work a chance. Now just because the month is over doesn’t mean that in the
future I won’t review any other Miyazaki or Ghibli films. I will still review them, just not as much.
Thank you for reading these reviews. I hope to have more
reviews for all of you in the near future. See all of you next time!
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