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Spirited Away (2001)
Out of all my genre blind spots, Japanese Anime is probably my biggest blind spot. This could be attributed to the fact that it isn't really my thing, unless it's closer to American cinema (like Akira). But I'm beginning to delve into it, albeit very slowly. I'm especially watching films from Studio Ghibli, which I understand is basically the very best anime has to offer. My first experience of the studio (Ponyo) wasn't very good at all, but despite that film almost putting me off anime, I had a spare two hours and I decided to go with Spirited Away, which is generally considered a masterpiece of a genre.
Spirited Away tells the story of Chihiro, a young girl who is displeased with her parent's decision to move to a new town. On the way to their new home, the family discovers a mysterious tunnel, which leads into a mystical world, inhabiting spirits and strange beasts, run by a grumpy sorceress. Chihiro suddenly finds herself on her own, when her parents are transformed into pigs. As she tries to fit in and ultimately try and escape from this world, she begins an adventure like no other.
Firstly, the animation is dazzling and a treat for the eyes. The rich texture of the spiritual world and the majestic beauty of everything drawn is a sight to behold. It truly immerses you into Chihiro's adventure and gives off a magical feeling in its visual quality. It is some of the best animation I've ever seen in a film or any other medium, and that's probably the highest praise I can give to an animated film. I'm just not too sure about the directing and story.
It's evident to me that director Hayao Miyazaki struggles with the tone in this film, and what the film is trying to be. In one scene, it's a loss of innocence, coming of age story, and in others, it's a foreboding, mysterious, supernatural Alice In Wonderland. It works for the most part, but you can feel it all slowly unravelling throughout. And at two hours, it could've been about 20 minutes shorter. The whole initial boiler room scene is pretty much needless, at least in my opinion. There was pretty much zero value added with that scene, for me.
But my biggest complaint for the film is how the story threads are tied up, specifically how Haku turns out to be a water spirit. Chihiro just suddenly reminisces about a time she lost a shoe, and he suddenly remembers his lost identity? What marvellous storytelling! There's also the part where Kamaji, out of nowhere, decides to pretend Chihiro is his granddaughter. Chihiro, the girl he seems to be actively annoyed by and suddenly for no reason, he comes to her aid.
I liked this film, though This review has been mostly negative, but I did like it. The adventurous tone and the beautiful animation sort of make up for the clumsy storytelling. It's deeper than Ponyo, which was more shallow than a half evaporated rain puddle. But in my eyes, it's obviously not the masterpiece everyone makes it out to be. Flawed, to be sure, but aesthetically beautiful is my final verdict.
Out of all my genre blind spots, Japanese Anime is probably my biggest blind spot. This could be attributed to the fact that it isn't really my thing, unless it's closer to American cinema (like Akira). But I'm beginning to delve into it, albeit very slowly. I'm especially watching films from Studio Ghibli, which I understand is basically the very best anime has to offer. My first experience of the studio (Ponyo) wasn't very good at all, but despite that film almost putting me off anime, I had a spare two hours and I decided to go with Spirited Away, which is generally considered a masterpiece of a genre.
Spirited Away tells the story of Chihiro, a young girl who is displeased with her parent's decision to move to a new town. On the way to their new home, the family discovers a mysterious tunnel, which leads into a mystical world, inhabiting spirits and strange beasts, run by a grumpy sorceress. Chihiro suddenly finds herself on her own, when her parents are transformed into pigs. As she tries to fit in and ultimately try and escape from this world, she begins an adventure like no other.
Firstly, the animation is dazzling and a treat for the eyes. The rich texture of the spiritual world and the majestic beauty of everything drawn is a sight to behold. It truly immerses you into Chihiro's adventure and gives off a magical feeling in its visual quality. It is some of the best animation I've ever seen in a film or any other medium, and that's probably the highest praise I can give to an animated film. I'm just not too sure about the directing and story.
It's evident to me that director Hayao Miyazaki struggles with the tone in this film, and what the film is trying to be. In one scene, it's a loss of innocence, coming of age story, and in others, it's a foreboding, mysterious, supernatural Alice In Wonderland. It works for the most part, but you can feel it all slowly unravelling throughout. And at two hours, it could've been about 20 minutes shorter. The whole initial boiler room scene is pretty much needless, at least in my opinion. There was pretty much zero value added with that scene, for me.
But my biggest complaint for the film is how the story threads are tied up, specifically how Haku turns out to be a water spirit. Chihiro just suddenly reminisces about a time she lost a shoe, and he suddenly remembers his lost identity? What marvellous storytelling! There's also the part where Kamaji, out of nowhere, decides to pretend Chihiro is his granddaughter. Chihiro, the girl he seems to be actively annoyed by and suddenly for no reason, he comes to her aid.
I liked this film, though This review has been mostly negative, but I did like it. The adventurous tone and the beautiful animation sort of make up for the clumsy storytelling. It's deeper than Ponyo, which was more shallow than a half evaporated rain puddle. But in my eyes, it's obviously not the masterpiece everyone makes it out to be. Flawed, to be sure, but aesthetically beautiful is my final verdict.