#(or in princess mononoke visuals: poisoned and corrupted)

[shih-coulda-had-it]

my original tengu torino AU... the studio ghibli hodgepodge AU...

[ugetsuwasmid]

Miyazaki - Spirited Away

There are few films that exist that can be described as truly magical, yet magic is the legacy of Miyazaki’s work. Miyazaki’s works with studio Ghibli include such standouts in the film industry as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, and, of course, the ever ubiquitous Spirited Away. At it’s core, Spirited Away is a love story. The choices that Chihiro/Sen made throughout her journey in the spirit world were informed solely by her love for Haku and for her parents. Although at the outset of the film, Chihiro is a nervous and timid child, in pursuing her goal of saving Haku and her parents from the control of the witch Yubaba, Chihiro draws upon her inner strength and develops the confidence to fulfill her quest in restoring Haku and her parents. All the while, the film is colored with themes of environmentalism and the harm of greed. Chihiro’s parents are turned into pigs for greedily and mindlessly stealing huge amounts of the spirit’s food. The stink spirit the Chihiro cleans is actually an ancient river spirit that has been poisoned by human pollution while Haku is a river spirit who can never return to his river as it has been completely destroyed through human intervention. Even the spirits are not free of greed, and it is the greed and gluttony of the bath house staff that corrupts No Face. A large part of Chihiro’s journey is spent making amends for and cleaning up the harm caused by greed.

While the film features thematic depth in its story as well as a rich cast of complex and unique characters, Spirited Away and the works of Studio Ghibli can best be described as sensory experiences. The food is so richly colored and textured that the audience can almost taste it while the while the physical scenery is so well textured and defined that the audience can almost feel what it is like to be within the realm of the spirits. The score is absolutely timeless and captivates the audience’s spirits and emotions. Above all else, Spirited Away is a visual masterpiece. The animation is smooth yet highly stylized in such a way to give the characters and scenery a unique level of emotiveness and expressiveness. The world is vibrantly colored while the scenery is diverse and expansive. Despite the massive scale of the set-pieces, careful attention has been paid to the most minute detail down to the individual drop of water or insignificant background character. So many times during my viewing of this film I found myself ignoring the focus of the scenes and just admiring the small details from Chihiro’s reflection in the glass window of the train to the way the shadows and lighting seamlessly combined to give physical depth to what should’ve been a two dimensional world. The film comes to life in front of the audience’s very eyes and brings the magic to life too. It really is no wonder why Studio Ghibli has an exclusive dubbing and distribution deal with the magic mongers themselves over at the house of mouse.

Normally at this point in my reviews I give my final opinion on how a film made me feel and whether or not I would recommend the film to anyone or watch it again. This time and this time alone I truly feel that I should not need to recommend Spirited Away, or any Ghibli film for that matter, to anyone. Miyazaki is timeless. Ghibli is timeless. Spirited Away is timeless, and I can give it no other final review than this: Japanese film, as we have discussed for this course, tends to be defined by films directed in Japan that are informed by Japanese culture, history, society, and social trends. Japanese film, then, is infused with and captures the spirit of Japan. The films of Hayao Miyazaki, the films of Studio Ghibli, and the film Spirited Away perfectly capture, in its purest form, the spirit of humanity.