Now on to the rant
�Spirited Away� is, in my opinion, a masterpiece as expected from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki (both of the Nausicaa, Totoro and Princess Mononoke fame). It has a beautiful soundtrack and a lovely theme song (Itsumo Nando demo). The pictures are intricately drawn and the movements well researched � I actually saw part of a documentary on the making of the movie where Miyazaki had most of the artists bring food into the studio and eat in front of mirrors so they could analyze the movements engaged when eating (this is for the scene where Chihiro�s parents pigged out in that unattended food stall � pun maybe subconsciously intended but not so consciously).
What struck me most is that it has a very simple storyline and the heroine is not required to do any great feat (destroy demons/ monsters/ witches etc.). Her task is a very simple one: to keep her will to live and observe the taboos of the spirit world.
Enter the Heroine
Ogino Chihiro, at first glance, seems to be a very ordinary 10 year-old little girl, bored and sulking, then at second glance, various characters repeatedly call her clumsy, stupid, cowardly and a crybaby to which she does not deny. Later we actually see her clumsiness in action when she works with the other cleaners.
So how does this clumsy, sulking, stupid and cowardly young girl get to become a heroine? She succeeds in doing what countless heroes and heroines of other myths, legends and fairytales failed to do. She listens and obeys.
Bluebeard�s young wife disobeys and opens the door to the forbidden room; Orpheus turns around and looks back before he has left the underworld (Chihiro is told to do a similar thing with positive results); the Prince from that Russian tale �The Firebird� is famous for disobedience which just gets him into more trouble; Icarus disregards his father�s warnings and flies higher and higher; Eve takes a bite from the forbidden fruit; the list goes on.
Chihiro or Sen once she began working in the other world is given several orders from various people and she obeys. In fact only twice in the movie, both in the beginning, does she fail to do what she is told but through no fault of her own. She fails to get out of the place when told to do so by Haku because her parents had been transformed and she would not leave without them. She fails to hold her breath when crossing the bridge because that little frog jumps out in the last minute and surprises her, which causes her to gasp for air (all it could have been because she couldn�t hold her breath any longer but she would�ve been able to if it weren�t for the frog).
Apart from that she succeeds. She never once throughout her time in the other world utters the forbidden words and phrases (i.e. �No� and �I want to go home�). Instead she expresses these feelings by crying (no rule about that!).
What�s so great about not saying what you�re not supposed to?
Well, in this world, words are taken for granted. Many people say things they don�t mean (namely politicians), many make promises they don�t intend to keep (again politicians) and many just say things for the heck of it. This is called freedom of speech. This is a good thing. BUT, through this freedom of speech policy where people have no restrictions in what they are allowed or not allowed to say and where many people aren�t held liable for the words that spill out of their mouths, the value and meaning of words have diminished. And I�m sure that a vast majority of people living on this earth, have at one time or another (or all the time) said something without thinking.
Now imagine yourself in a magical world where words have a lot more meaning and value and by just uttering a single forbidden word your mouth would crack or else you get turned into a pig. And the warning is like an overdue books library notice � first and final warning. In other words, you are told only once about what you can�t say and if you slip up, game over. I�m pretty sure I�ll be a pig in no time as with the vast majority of people. This is what makes Sen different from this vast majority, she may be stupid but she thinks BEFORE she talks (There�s a scene in Yuyu Hakusho where taboo words are the theme of a battle, the people have to hold a conversation without blurting the taboo and the number of taboo is increased with each passing minute).
Another strength in Sen that is not often seen in other children her age is her fierce concentration on the job/ problem at hand. She does not get distracted easily. When she sees a wounded Haku (in dragon form) fly into Yu Babaa�s room, she immediately hurries over. First she tries to get there the normal way a.k.a via the multiple lifts in the building. But the presence of the weird but rich guest prevents her from entering a lift. The guest offers her gold for her company and she refuses because she has a more pressing matter at hand � getting to Yu Babaa�s room. Later on she denies this guest her company again despite being offered more gold and food because she needs to get to Zeniba�s place in an attempt to save Haku�s life.
Aah, the power of love
Another theme in the movie that is repeatedly emphasized throughout is the power of love that enables you to recognize loved ones no matter what form they may take. I�m sure it�s the power of love because that�s what Kamajii calls it.
Haku recognizes Chihiro as someone from their past at their first meeting and calls her by her name without even asking for it. The white dragon in the air intrigues Sen the first time she sees it and on the second time she calls it Haku as she is sure that is who he is (even she is surprised at her ability to recognize him). Sen has a dream in which she fails to distinguish her parents from the other pigs in the pen and she worries about it (actually, near the beginning when her parents first transformed, she steps back in horror and goes off screaming for her parents. I�m not sure whether it�s because she couldn�t tell the pigs were her parents or that she was in denial). And finally Sen succeeds when Yu Babaa orders her to identify her parents among a herd* of pigs.
Unlike Sen and Haku, Yu babaa (for all her magical powers) and her son fail to recognize a loved one. When Zeniba first appears, Bou, Yu Babaa�s son, calls her mama to which Zeniba comments on his inability to distinguish his aunt from his real mother as though it should be a very easy task. Later when Yu Babaa inquires about the identity of the plump little mouse on Sen�s shoulder, Sen is surprised and asks �Couldn�t you tell?� to which Yu Babaa replies �As if I would know.� The mouse of course is Bou transformed.
Yu Babaa also fails to realize that the son in her room is not her real son and even when Haku informs her that �the most important thing� to her �has been replaced� her first thought is of the gold on her table. It took her quite a while to think of her son.
And lastly, the love itself
I�m pretty sure that Haku and Chihiro are in love despite they young age. Kamajii calls it the power of love and Zeniba refers to Haku as Sen�s boyfriend and demands that Haku take good care of Sen/ Chihiro.
One thing I really love about Studio Ghibli�s movie is the subtle and innocent portrayal of love. Love is there very strongly but not overwhelmingly. The characters are often very young but they have the ability to love very true. They don�t need to kiss and make out passionately like a lot of other onscreen lovers in both anime and film, they don�t even need to say the actual �L� word (or in Japan�s case, the �S� and �A� word) to know that they love and are loved. And when they do actually say, it�s usually right at the end and it�s like �Yeah, I know already�. I love the scene in �Whisper of the Heart� where Seiji sits down next to Shizuku in the library, she looks up and they smile at each other and then each went back to their reading. They are contented just to be at each other�s side and knowing that the other person is there.
Oops, this is the real lastly � the mystery surrounding Haku
The biggest problem I have with the movie is who or what is Haku. Through the subtitles a viewer might get the impression that Haku might have been a little boy who retrieved Chihiro�s shoes when she fell in the river. But in the Japanese version, Haku specifically says �Watashi no naka ni ochita toki�� which literally means �When you fell inside [of] me��. That coupled with Chihiro telling him that his real name is Kohakugawa (Kawa/gawa in Japanese means river) suggests that Haku might have been a river spirit at one time. The fact that the river is dried up and no longer exists makes sense as that might have been the time when Haku left that world and entered that of Yu Babaa.
Another telltale factor is the �Nushi� at the end of Haku�s real name (other than Kohakugawa) Mihigahami** Kohakunushi. Now, I�m not very good at Japanese names but to me �Nushi� sounds very old and ancient and even unworldly. Even Chihiro says it sound�s like a god�s name. I doubt that nowadays people put �nushi� at the end of their names, especially if they�re a kid. But then again, I would need to do more research on Japanese names and the use of �nushi�
* I don't know what a group of pigs is called so I took a wild guess and called it a herd.
**I could be wrong but it's something similar
Yep, that�s pretty much all I have to say about the movie. Flame me if you like. I like getting emails but unfortunately I don�t seem to be getting enough so I suppose even a �I hate you, you suck big time, drop dead already� would be nice.