Description: From one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animated cinema comes the most acclaimed film of 2002. Hayao Miyazaki's latest triumph, filled with astonishing animation and epic adventure, is a dazzling masterpiece for the ages. It's a "wonderfully welcoming work of art that's as funny and entertaining as it is brilliant, beautiful, and deep" (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal). SPIRITED AWAY is a wondrous fantasy about a young girl, Chihiro, trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and return her family to the outside world. An unforgettable story brimming with creativity, SPIRITED AWAY will take you on a journey beyond your imagination. "To enter the world of Hayao Miyazaki is to experience a kind of lighthearted enchantment that is unique to the world of animation" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). It's a fantastic tale the whole family will want to experience over and over again.
Amazon.com: 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
Best Miyazaki film This story has the best character growth and the most imaginative creatures of any Hayao Miyazaki film I've seen. While I can't compare this Disneyfied version with the original Japanese (which MUST be better), I think the translation works nicely. The story is not too childish, like Totoro, nor too confusing like Princess Mononoke, nor is it anime-goofy with huge eyes or stunted motion.
It's a delightful fantasy tale full of exotic imagery and uniqueness to western eyes. The story and artisty make this movie worth seeing even if you don't usually watch animation.
ETHEREAL, AND TOTALLY ENCHANTING I'm not a huge lover of anime, but Hayao Miyazaki's work is exceptional by any standards, and in SPIRITED AWAY he managed to transcend even his earlier masterful PRINCESS MONONOKE. The attention to even the smallest details in this luscious, sublimely original treat for the senses is almost indescribable. A few things in the film may frighten the very young, but for any lover of fantasy- prepare to be blown away. It is a pure joy to watch, funny, and moving.
I was SPIRITED AWAY! I must admit that I have not been a devoted fan of Anime. After seeing SPIRITIED AWAY, this could change!
Hayao Miyazaki must be a mad genius. Many consider him to be Anime's greatest artist. Having seen some of his work, I am fascinated by Innocence standing firm in the face of Great Evil, and horrendous creatures defeated by cute little unarmed girls without irises! Love wins over all!
How does he do it? Where do these images come from? The Spirits of Bushido and the Spectre of Hiroshima combine in occassionaly confusing dialogue and violently grotesque action sequences, as mutant creatures and masterful scenery whirl by with tornadic intensity, in which no detail is too small.
Master Miyazaki, I admire your work. Truly you are the Da Vinci of Animation. Long may you live, to continue your work. Thank you ,sir.
A truly great movie Spirited Away (2001) is Hayao Miyazaki's eighth film in which he not only animated, but directed and wrote the screenplay for it, as well. It is a true gem made in the tradition of his previous classics like Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke.
Although the animation created by Miyazaki and his team at Studio Ghibli is fantastically beautiful, as always, but I also enjoyed the story:
It is about a spoiled young girl named Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase in the English dub) who is moving to a new home. When her parents decide to take a short cut, they stumble upon a supposedly abandoned theme park. As Chihiro explores, her parents stop to eat. She returns to find them transformed into pigs. She meets a boy named Haku (Jason Marsden) who leads her to a mysterious bathhouse for spirits in order to avoid Chihiro suffering the same fate as her parents. Chihiro is put to work by Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette) the greedy witch who is the boss of the bathhouse. As Chihiro adjusts to her new life, she becomes a kinder, more accountable, and caring person. However, Chihiro still hopes that she will one day be reunited with her parents.
One aspect of the film that I admired is that the characters are not flat. It is a problem that I think is typical in many films (Disney in particular). The characters are nearly always categorized as either "Heroes" or "Villains". Miyazaki creates characters with deep emotions and meaningful actions that don't always fit the cookie-cutter mold for shallow characters, thus making them more human.
Additionally, I thought the film was very creative. The movie is bursting with imagination everywhere. It's like the Harry Potter of animated films. What I love is that most of it goes into the little background details.
This is a truly magnificent film! I highly recommend it! 5 stars.
Not my favorite Miyazaki movie I've seen four Miyazaki movies: My Neighbor Totoro (weird but cute), Kiki's Delivery Service (adorable!), Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (excellent movie!), and most recently, Spirited Away. It seems the aforementionaed film has recieved huge amounts of critical acclaim and was a success at the box office. I seem to be in the minority here, because I was teetering on the edge between giving it two or three stars.
Whoever said Spirited Away was "a triumph in art, but also a failure in storytelling" took the words right out of my mouth. I think it was a very imaginative film--- perhaps a bit too much so, as the creators seem to be focusing too much on being imaginative and too little on providing an engaging, entertaining story for audiences. I found the plot to be rather flimsy; many of the events seem to be totally random, and there are simply too many subplots and that sort of thing for the film to really be enjoyable. In some contexts, such as in Alice in Wonderland, that would be okay-- but this movie, in direct contrast to Alice in Wonderland, takes its bizarre self very, very seriously. I don't recall there being much in the way of humor either, though the Stink Spirit scene was pretty funny. On the plus side, the animation was exceedingly beautiful and loaded with background detail. Unlike most anime, which are so cheap-looking they're painful to watch, Spirited Away features some of the best animation I've seen in any 2-D animated film.
In short, Spirited Away is interesting in its own, 2-and-a-half-hour-long way, but I would only reccomend it to intellectuals and Miyazaki completists.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
