SPIRITED AWAY
May 10th 2009 22:34
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Written by: Hayao Miyazaki
Producer: Toshio Suzuki
Starring: Jason Marsden (Haku), Daveigh Chase (Chihiro/Sen), Suzanne Pleshette (Yubaba/Zeniba), David Ogden Stiers (Kamaji), Susan Egan (Lin), Michael Chiklis (Chihiro’s dad) & Lauren Holly (Chihiro’s mum)
Produced by: Studio Ghibli, Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film & Mitsubishi
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 125 minutes Rating: PG
This is the story of a young girl who on the day when she and her parents are about to move into their new home in a new town suddenly finds herself inadvertently thrust into a situation requiring tremendous courage as well as responsibility and resolve. The movie opens with a screen full of flowers and cute looking gift card stuck in amongst the bouquet; this is a farewell gift that has been given to Chihiro, the films protagonist, and initially she comes across as something of a whinger. Still when your young and suddenly uprooted from all that you have previously known and grown up with I suppose you have a right to be a bit crabby – heck I have been in that very same situation myself having to move from New Zealand back to Australia where I was born.
Of course all this seems so mundane, so absolutely normal given its context, people in Japan and even the West often find themselves relocating due to the pressures of work and business; this is nothing new just so very much familiar to people whether you’re from Tokyo, Sydney or New York. Things begin to take a strange turn though once the family pass the new school that Chihiro will be attending and continue on the road towards their new home only to discover that they have taken the wrong turn. It was interesting that whilst watching this scenery, the houses, the layout of the community that I thought it could have easily have been somewhere near Wollongong or even Newcastle, though the Japanese signs were a giveaway that it wasn’t, still the look was similar.
Zipping down what could be a short cut the family suddenly find themselves before an abandoned entrance at which stands a rather unusual looking statue, a short stocky figure that has a smiling face at the front and back. If this was ancient Rome I’d have said the statue represents Janus, the Latin god of doorways, beginning and endings who was often depicted on coins as having two faces. Certainly Janus was said to guard portals between this world and the otherworld and perhaps this statue serves the same purpose. Chihiro’s dad is curious about this building that suddenly has emerged from what appears to be nothing more than forest, the entrance into its confines seems to beckon to him and he’s keen to explore.
It’s a maxim of tales like this that often it’s the children involved who are wiser on some level then the adults and Spirited Away follows this maxim to a tee. Chihiro’s parents are too focused on mundane things, such as the removalist arriving before they do or whether or not they can make back onto the right road in order to get to their new home, the fact that something out of the ordinary may be happening never enters into their heads. Chihiro on the other hand something’s not right from the get go, the set up is just too strange to be believed and she has no liking for the statue which watches over the entrance. And so Chihiro, through no fault of her own suddenly finds herself thrust into a world she would not have found at all possible even in her wildest imaginings.
Beyond this mysterious portal lies the abode of the witch Yubaba and her bathhouse for the various spirits who inhabit the various natural features of the world, certain aspects of the natural world and even vegetables, there are river spirits, stink spirits and the Daikon spirit amongst a veritable host of thousands. But then again this is very much a part of Japan, as the Shinto religion has as one of its key tenets that all around in the waterfalls, in the mountains, in the rivers there are various spirits or Kami and depending upon the importance of the feature that the Kami inhabits or represents indicates the spirits power and influence. Thus the Kami of a major river is more influential than that of a small pond.
So why the heck would spirits need to frequent a bathhouse? Well perhaps this might have something to do with the pervasive influence of the consumerist human society that has slowly covered large tracts of what was once pristine and pure wilderness be it in Japan or North America or the east coast of Australia. Here in Yubaba’s bath house they can wash away the filth and pollution of the human consumerist monster, certainly it seems that very few of the spirits or Yubaba’s employees have any love for humans. An attitude that will make Chihiro’s life very difficult as her parents have been transformed into pigs as a result of their own greed and desires and she has no way of knowing how she can get back to her world, the world of that rampant consumerism and mundanity.
Fortunately for her she has gained an ally in the guise of Haku, a young boy who is master over the various other attendants within the bathhouse and is known as Yubaba’s henchmen. It seems that there is something of a bond between the two and Haku knows who Chihiro is and at risk to himself he helps the distraught young girl attempt to survive in this strange new world. Perhaps he’s a protective spirit who watches over distressed young girls? He claims to have known Chihiro for all her life, strange no? So along with drawing upon a cast of characters from traditional Japanese folktales Hayao Miyazaki has also woven a story of love, of courage and mystery to serves as the driving force behind Spirited Away. But then again I would not expect anything less from this master film director and storyteller, he knows how to tell a tale and tell it well.
Spirited Away is well worth taking the time out to watch, it is certainly very much deserving of the acclaim it achieved in winning the Best Animated Feature Film at the 2003 Academy Awards. Its title is very appropriate and something of an interesting play on the phrase.
Written by: Hayao Miyazaki
Producer: Toshio Suzuki
Starring: Jason Marsden (Haku), Daveigh Chase (Chihiro/Sen), Suzanne Pleshette (Yubaba/Zeniba), David Ogden Stiers (Kamaji), Susan Egan (Lin), Michael Chiklis (Chihiro’s dad) & Lauren Holly (Chihiro’s mum)
Produced by: Studio Ghibli, Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film & Mitsubishi
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 125 minutes Rating: PG
This is the story of a young girl who on the day when she and her parents are about to move into their new home in a new town suddenly finds herself inadvertently thrust into a situation requiring tremendous courage as well as responsibility and resolve. The movie opens with a screen full of flowers and cute looking gift card stuck in amongst the bouquet; this is a farewell gift that has been given to Chihiro, the films protagonist, and initially she comes across as something of a whinger. Still when your young and suddenly uprooted from all that you have previously known and grown up with I suppose you have a right to be a bit crabby – heck I have been in that very same situation myself having to move from New Zealand back to Australia where I was born.
It’s a maxim of tales like this that often it’s the children involved who are wiser on some level then the adults and Spirited Away follows this maxim to a tee. Chihiro’s parents are too focused on mundane things, such as the removalist arriving before they do or whether or not they can make back onto the right road in order to get to their new home, the fact that something out of the ordinary may be happening never enters into their heads. Chihiro on the other hand something’s not right from the get go, the set up is just too strange to be believed and she has no liking for the statue which watches over the entrance. And so Chihiro, through no fault of her own suddenly finds herself thrust into a world she would not have found at all possible even in her wildest imaginings.
Beyond this mysterious portal lies the abode of the witch Yubaba and her bathhouse for the various spirits who inhabit the various natural features of the world, certain aspects of the natural world and even vegetables, there are river spirits, stink spirits and the Daikon spirit amongst a veritable host of thousands. But then again this is very much a part of Japan, as the Shinto religion has as one of its key tenets that all around in the waterfalls, in the mountains, in the rivers there are various spirits or Kami and depending upon the importance of the feature that the Kami inhabits or represents indicates the spirits power and influence. Thus the Kami of a major river is more influential than that of a small pond.
So why the heck would spirits need to frequent a bathhouse? Well perhaps this might have something to do with the pervasive influence of the consumerist human society that has slowly covered large tracts of what was once pristine and pure wilderness be it in Japan or North America or the east coast of Australia. Here in Yubaba’s bath house they can wash away the filth and pollution of the human consumerist monster, certainly it seems that very few of the spirits or Yubaba’s employees have any love for humans. An attitude that will make Chihiro’s life very difficult as her parents have been transformed into pigs as a result of their own greed and desires and she has no way of knowing how she can get back to her world, the world of that rampant consumerism and mundanity.
Fortunately for her she has gained an ally in the guise of Haku, a young boy who is master over the various other attendants within the bathhouse and is known as Yubaba’s henchmen. It seems that there is something of a bond between the two and Haku knows who Chihiro is and at risk to himself he helps the distraught young girl attempt to survive in this strange new world. Perhaps he’s a protective spirit who watches over distressed young girls? He claims to have known Chihiro for all her life, strange no? So along with drawing upon a cast of characters from traditional Japanese folktales Hayao Miyazaki has also woven a story of love, of courage and mystery to serves as the driving force behind Spirited Away. But then again I would not expect anything less from this master film director and storyteller, he knows how to tell a tale and tell it well.
Spirited Away is well worth taking the time out to watch, it is certainly very much deserving of the acclaim it achieved in winning the Best Animated Feature Film at the 2003 Academy Awards. Its title is very appropriate and something of an interesting play on the phrase.
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