Spirited Away

Spirited Away

by
rating:
list price: $29.99 USD
Amazon price: $20.49 USD

Amazon Review:The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history (more than $234 million), Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi) is a dazzling film that reasserts the power of drawn animation to create fantasy worlds. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and Lewis Carroll's Alice, Chihiro (voice by Daveigh Chase--Lilo in Disney's Lilo & Stitch) plunges into an alternate reality. On the way to their new home, the petulant adolescent and her parents find what they think is a deserted amusement park. Her parents stuff themselves until they turn into pigs, and Chihiro discovers they're trapped in a resort for traditional Japanese gods and spirits. An oddly familiar boy named Haku (Jason Marsden) instructs Chihiro to request a job from Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), the greedy witch who rules the spa. As she works, Chihiro's untapped qualities keep her from being corrupted by the greed that pervades Yubaba's mini-empire. In a series of fantastic adventures, she purges a river god suffering from human pollution, rescues the mysterious No-Face, and befriends Yubaba's kindly twin, Zeniba (Pleshette again). The resolve, bravery, and love Chihiro discovers within herself enable her to aid Haku and save her parents. The result is a moving and magical journey, told with consummate skill by one of the masters of contemporary animation. MPAA Rated: PG ("Some scary moments") --Charles Solomon

Lynn's Review:

Almost heart-stopping in its beauty, "Spirited Away" is a film you can watch over and over. It's so intricately layered, so full of detail, and so full of heart that it never wears.

Chihiro is an average modern child. She's slightly spoiled, a little petulant, and sad/angry/frightened that she's having to move to a new town and leave her friends behind. Her impetuous father leads them by accident into the spirit world, where her parents' bad choices turn them into pigs and Chihiro into the servant of an evil witch who steals her name. Chihiro must find a way to regain her name, save her parents and return to the human world--all on her own. Is she strong enough and brave enough to do it?

Like all Miyazaki films featuring young heroines, Chihiro is a completely believable girl. The bad guys are never completely bad, and the good guys are never completely good. The world is a mysterious place to Miyazaki-san, and aren't we lucky to have him guide us through the spirit worlds!

Highly, highly recommended.