Review: Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Christopher E. Meadows
Walt Disney Presents a Studio Ghibli Film
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
MPAA: PG, for scary moments
Reviewer Rating: 10 out of 10
Though he works exclusively in the medium of animation, Hayao Miyazaki
stands out as one of the greatest filmmakers of _any_ medium that
Japan has ever known. Every one of his films is a masterpiece of
storytelling. When Miyazaki made _Princess Mononoke_, fans were
disheartened to hear that it was to be his last film. How fortunate
for us that he changed his mind, and made _Sen and Chihiro: Spirited
Away_.
_Spirited Away_ is literally the highest-grossing movie ever in Japan
(it made $230 million, in a nation with 1/10 America's theater
screens), knocking _Titanic_ out of the top slot--which in turn
knocked _Princess Mononoke_ ($159 million) out of the top slot a
couple of years before. Despite its high Japanese gross, _Mononoke_
made less than $3 million in the American box office; as a result,
Disney nearly didn't option _Spirited Away_ for American distribution.
Fortunately, they saw the light. The American run of _Spirited Away_
opens in limited venues in late September, and will expand to other
venues (as did _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_) based on how
successful it is. Reportedly, both subtitled and dubbed prints of the
movie will be available to theaters that want to show either.
Though the movie is not yet out in America, the DVD (featuring English
subtitles) has been out in Japan and Hong Kong for a couple of months,
and it was by this expedient that I watched the film. I have not yet
seen the dub (supervised by Pixar's John Lasseter, and starring
Daveigh Chase, "Lilo," as the protagonist); I will update the Epinions
version of this review (see note at end) when I do see it. If the dub
is as faithful as it looks from the trailer, then this review will
still be almost entirely accurate for the purposes of evaluating it.
For those who remember _Princess Mononoke_, whose brilliance was
mitigated by its violence, the first question _Spirited Away_ might
evoke is, "Is it kid-friendly?" The answer is unabashedly _yes_.
_Spirited Away_ is one of that rare breed of movie that is made for
children but without pandering or condescending to them--so it can be
enjoyed by children of _all_ ages, whether young in body or young at
heart. There are some scary moments (that may be too intense for the
_very_ young) and a little bit of blood, which is why it is rated PG,
but there are no deaths and very little violence. Disney is putting
its own name and logo at the beginning of the movie, and Disney would
not endanger its own family-friendly reputation.
In _Spirited Away_, Miyazaki revisits the world he first explored in
_My Neighbor Totoro_, and later touched upon in _Princess Mononoke_:
the realm of Shinto nature-spirits hiding just out of sight behind the
ordinary world.
The story begins as a young girl named Chihiro is sulking in the back
of her parents' car, unhappy about being taken away from all her
friends, as they drive to their new home in the suburbs. Her father
takes a wrong turn, and they end up in what seems to be an abandoned
amusement park. Chihiro thinks the place is creepy and doesn't want
any part of it. Despite her protests, her father and mother decide to
explore the decrepit village across a dry riverbed, and Chihiro comes
along rather than be left behind alone.
Chihiro's premonitions are not unfounded...for after nightfall, the
village is a very different place. Under the lit lamps, shadowy
spirits walk the streets. The dry riverbed is a mile-wide flood,
plied by a riverboat that carries gods and spirits across the water.
Customers of all different shapes and sizes cross the great arched
bridge into the palatial bathhouse that surmounts the village. Before
she fully understands what has happened, Chihiro's parents have been
turned into pigs, and she has been forced to work as a bath attendant
for Yubaba, the witch who runs the bathhouse. Chihiro--or "Sen," as
she is called after Yubaba steals most of her name--must make her way
in that strange world, so she can free her parents and return home.
_Spirited Away_ is an exciting and fascinating movie. Like all of
Miyazaki's films, you come to care for and empathize with the
protagonist and the other characters--even the witch Yubaba, who is
not so much _evil_ as she is greedy and self-centered. You keep
watching because you want to find out what happens next, and how the
characters learn, grow, and deal with their problems. Contrast an
early scene with Chihiro inching down a staircase one terrified step
at a time to a later scene which has her running on a decrepit,
collapsing pipe, leaping to safety just as it finally gives way. You
get so caught up in these developments that before you know it, the
movie is over.
The story of _Spirited Away_ is inspired by many sources--most notably
Japanese Shinto folklore, which holds that everything in nature has a
spirit or god living within it (for the purpose of this story, the
Japanese terms for "spirit" and "god" are roughly interchangeable),
and Lewis Carroll's _Alice in Wonderland_, which tells the story of a
girl's journey through a strange and sometimes frightening fantasy
world. In fact, _Spirited Away_ has most often been compared to
_Alice_, though taken as a whole, the resemblance is only superficial.
The movie also harks back to some of Miyazaki's earlier movies,
revisiting the funny-looking nature spirits of _My Neighbor Totoro_,
the young girl making her way in a strange world of _Kiki's Delivery
Service_, and the vulnerability of gods to man-made corruption of
_Princess Mononoke_.
In _Spirited Away_, the main themes are finding one's inner strength,
and the value of friendship over coercion--themes found in many of his
other works as well. The message is to be true to oneself--that even
if you do not _change_ the world, you can still survive it. There are
also mild pokes at the consumerism that is especially rampant in
modern Japan, and at man's tendency to pollute his environment.
Miyazaki often uses his work for gentle preaching of this kind, but
the marvel is that it is so subdued--showing by example, rather than
by broad exposition--that the method of delivery does not prejudice
against the message.
Miyazaki doesn't simply create movies, he creates entire visualized
_worlds_. Every scene has the sort of attention to detail that can
only be fully appreciated on the big screen...even the dim corners of
each scene are populated by _things_--pipes, valves, gauges, a sink
with a towel hanging over it on a clotheshanger on the wall of a
machine room, or characters running this way and that. One memorably
well-composed shot shows Chihiro inching out of a door at the left of
the screen, while at the right, numerous strange creatures pass back
and forth over the bridge in the distance. Every one of those
creatures is unique--there's no recycling or looping of cells because
they don't think you'll be paying attention. Miyazaki's films are a
feast for the eyes, fun to watch over and over again simply so you can
see the little details you missed before.
A word should also be said about the animation. Japanese animation
has a different style, comes from a different background than the
modern-day Disney to which most Americans are accustomed. American
animation often shows expression through the use of exaggerated facial
motions and body language, similar to the way a stage performer
conveys his expressions so that even the people in the back row can
see what's going on. When a Disney character's jaw drops, the whole
shape of his face changes. When he throws up his hands in amazement,
he seems more like a caricature than an actual person.
However, anime borrows from a _manga_, or graphic novel-style,
tradition, in which ways have to be found of showing emotion that work
even in a still frame. The artists become so used to thinking in
those conventions that those conventions get translated to the screen
in their animated works. Japanese animated characters _do_ show
emotion, change expression--but they do it in a more minimalist,
realistic fashion--in the way their eyes and mouth move, and with more
subdued body language.
I am so used to watching Japanese animation that reading the
characters is second nature to me--but American critics often seem to
complain about these films having "bad animation," confusing _style_
with _quality_. It is a pet peeve of mine, because Miyazaki's films,
including _Spirited Away_, are animated on a level of quality that few
other than Disney ever reach. Miyazaki has many Disney animators
among his fans.
The score to _Spirited Away_ is composed by Japanese composer Joe
Hisaishi, who has written the music for most of Miyazaki's movies.
Hisaishi's score uses a full symphony orchestra, and is by turns
haunting, creepy, melancholy, and boisterous, perfectly evoking the
mood of the scenes it accompanies. I can't wait to hear it through
the larger speakers of a movie theater.
Miyazaki's movies have always been amazing roller-coaster rides that
thrill and delight almost anyone who sees them; _Spirited Away_ is no
exception. Much more accessible and family-friendly than _Princess
Mononoke_, it should be a smashing success if the theater-going
audience gives it a chance.
(NOTE: This review is a slightly modified version of the one that may
be found at <URL:http://www.epinions.com/content_74899099268>.)
This review is copyright 2002 by Christopher E. Meadows. Permission
is granted for Internet redistribution via rec.arts.movies.reviews,
and for associated retransmission and archival. All other rights
reserved.
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X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 782268
X-RT-TitleID: 1116064
X-RT-AuthorID: 1061
X-RT-RatingText: 10/10