Directed
by Miyazaki Hayao.
Produced
by Studio Ghibli
Chihiro
is moving home but on the way there her father takes a wrong turn.
Arriving at an abandoned amusement village Chihiro’s parents begin to
stuff themselves with food. This
gluttony results in them turning into pigs and so out heroine must work in a
souplands in order to free her parents from their newfound bodies.
To
herald Spirited Away, as an anime classic would be clichéd at
this point after every other reviewer this side of the world has.
Instead AI heralds Spirited Away as a milestone in the fantasy genre
Miyazaki-san once again has created an anime that like Princess Minooka is
unparalleled in its genre. In fact
it is very difficult to find fault with Spirited Away the world
Chihiro and her ghoulish companions inhabit is splendidly realised the action
scenes and animation in general is superbly fluid.
And the voice work is excellent even the translation is up to scratch!
It
is the story that I can find the most fault with: It has become a trend in the
West to analyse anime plot lines in order to find a deeper meaning however upon
analysing Spirited Away’s plot it is apparent that the only real
point Miyazaki is trying to make is tat the youth of Japan are spoilt.
There are also some questionable morals in Spirited Away.
Firstly people may feel that in a children’s movie the protagonist been
sent to work in a whorehouse is a bit much.
A spirit named No Face constantly peruses Chihiro offering her money [she
refuses to take it however the stigma remains].
At the time of release many Japanese citizens were concerned about these
themes Miyazaki-san merely stated that:
“Kenosha
is a metaphor, the libido that everybody secretly harbours.” This quote was
taken from an interview in the Japanese edition of Premiere my
assumptions of Miyazaki-san’s sub conscious while making the movie may seem
slightly cynical but in a sense it is to his credit. This tale can be looked on by children as a fun movie and by
adults as a movie that can be dissected for a better more rounded view of the
director’s path through the story. I
myself did not feel phased by this when watching the movie I instead saw it more
as a gateway to comparison with stories such as Alice in Wonderland.
There
is also one other thing that bothers me about Miyazaki’s latest work that is
the quality of the animation I have already mentioned how in general it
is fluid and beautiful [of course it’s Miyazaki Hayao after all!] however the
quality does seem to waver between excellent and average erratically
particularly towards the end of the film where there is a distinct lack of cell
animation instead opting for glittery CG effects. This has been the case with many anime movies the movie
begins and looks beautiful wavers towards average in the middle and becomes
better again for the finale. I
would think that Studio Ghibli could manage a budget properly.
In
terms of character and set design Spirited Away does not
disappoint. The character’s are
lovingly crafted and to me at least have a very “Western” feel to them
especially the spirits. The setting
is also excellent from rolling hills to huge oceans, seedy bathhouses and
countryside cottages the atmosphere is never tampered with the designs truly
make the movie a fairy tale as the director intended. The contrast between design and plot also raises some
interesting questions about the movie as a whole.
The cute characters and bright backdrops hide the sinister underbelly of
the amusement village’s society and inhabitants maybe Miyazaki is making a
point about the youth of today or maybe this lowly reviewer is reading into the
movie a bit too much.
Finally.
Go see this movie take your friends and family to see it. Take your kids to see
it. Take your dog to see it. This
movie opens up greater possibilities for anime in this country now anime is
becoming more recognized that’s why I urge everyone to see Spirited Away
before it’s too late. This review
will be updated by February of next year when the movie is released on DVD in
Europe. Please go see it now though until February I will not give this movie a
final score it’s up to you to make your own mind up.
9
out of 10