That's the spirit
You’ll curse yourself if you miss Spirited Away
REVIEW
SPIRITED AWAY
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Opens Friday, September 20
Check listings
It’s Japan’s biggest box-office success ever, it was made by Hayao Miyazaki – an artist widely considered to be the most talented director of animated features on earth – and, after a brief but agonizing delay, it’s coming to North America.
Vibrate with excitement, anime fans, because Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away is finally here! Viewers who aren't familiar with Miyazaki’s work should not miss this opportunity to expand their horizons by seeing this masterpiece on the big screen. (The more in-the-know readers will need no such encouragement, and are probably making viewing arrangements right now.)
Spirited Away is a modern fairytale – a fantasy "for those who have been eight years old, and those who are going to be eight years old," to quote the director. The story begins in modern-day Japan, where the young heroine, Chihiro, is reluctantly riding to her new home in the back seat of her parents’ Saab. After taking a wrong turn, the parents decide to relax and explore on foot for a while, rather than rush off to meet with the moving van. Guided by the irresistible smell of fresh cooking, the trio wanders into a deserted restaurant laden with trays of hot, mouth-watering food. While her parents gorge themselves on the unattended buffet, Chihiro cautiously peers down the empty street, wondering where all the people are. When the sun suddenly sets, she finds the area bustling with ghosts and supernatural creatures. She’s terrified, and by the time she rejoins her parents, she finds that they have been magically transformed into two enormous squealing pigs.
So begins a harrowing adventure that tests the young girl’s mettle, revealing hidden strengths she didn’t know she had. Unable to leave this bizarre world of gods, monsters, and walking spirits, she swallows her fear and loneliness, attempting to earn a place for herself until she can find a way to free her family from the strange curse. Despite her initial horror, Chihiro grows to realize that she is the outsider in this world, and that the ethereal beasts around her, although fearsome-looking, are still entitled to basic courtesy.
Chihiro’s fish-out-of-water status gives her empathy with the spirit world’s more misunderstood denizens, who grow to appreciate her. Not to say that everything’s all huggy-touchy-smiley-happy in this bizarre purgatory – far from it. She’s put to work in a bath house run by Yubaba, a tyrannical sorceress straight out of a child’s worst nightmare. Even Chihiro’s allies are dangerous and unpredictable monsters, such as the initially gentle No-Face, who becomes a ravenous predator when he allows his gluttony to take over. As fascinating and magical as this world is, it’s filled to the brim with hostile beasts and hidden dangers. Unlike Dorothy’s flight from Oz, we actually want this girl to find her way home.
The film taps into one of the most basic primal fears of childhood: separation from one’s parents. The possibility that Chihiro will never see her mother and father again seems horribly real, and Yubaba is the embodiment of the world’s most frightening babysitter: a grotesque, wrinkled harridan with little interest in the child’s well-being. With her disproportionately large head and bullying manner, she’s like a nightmare version of your scariest relative, as seen through the eyes of a petrified child.
Miyazaki’s ability to construct fully realized and detailed fantasy worlds is unrivalled. You’ll forget the mundane reality that awaits you outside the theatre, and believe in a world where swarms of paper cut-outs pursue flying dragons, and living soot balls toss coal into a furnace. Don’t wait – if you miss this one, you’ll curse yourself.
The films of Hayao Miyazaki
The following feature-length animated films were directed by master animator Hayao Miyazaki:
· The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
· Warriors of the Wind (a.k.a. Nausicaa of the Valley Wind, 1984)
· Castle in the Sky (a.k.a. Laputa, 1986)
· My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
· Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
· Porco Rosso (1992)
· Princess Mononoke (1997)
· Spirited Away (2001)
Also, look for these films produced by Miyazaki’s famous Studio Ghibli:
· Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
· Only Yesterday (1991)
· Pompoko (1994) |
