Starring: Rumi Hiiragi, Mari Natsuki, Miyu Irino
Moving away from home, Chichiro (Hiiragi) stops with her
parents (Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi) at what appears to be an abandoned
amusement park. When Chichiro’s parents begin to tuck in on what they assume to
be a large buffet, they don’t realise it’s a feast meant for the spirits (the
“amusement park” actually being a spirit village) and are turned into pigs as
punishment. With the help of a spirit boy named Haku (Irino), Chichiro has her
name changed to Sen and sets to work in the spirits’ bath house in order to set
her parents free.
Bolstered with a higher budget, thanks to the
Disney-affiliated Buena Vista animation studios, Spirited Away is perhaps Hayao
Miyazaki’s most famous feature, alongside the likes of Majo No Takyûbin (Kiki’s
Delivery Service) (1989), Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke) (1997) and Tonari
No Totoro (My Neighbour Totoro) (1988) and with good reason. The Miyazaki
trademarks are present, such as the child protagonist (not to mention a female
one, another Miyazaki trademark), set against a verdant rural backdrop with a
series of surreal but cute and cuddly creatures. Spirited Away is more than
mere child-friendly fluff though (it has more than its share of blood and
moments that might scare very young children) and is a visually intriguing and
achingly beautiful (for Joe Hisaishi’s score as much as the stunning animation)
look at accepting responsibility and being brave as you grow. The Japanese-language version of the film goes
a little more a realistic acting approach and is more subtle than its
English-language counterpart, but it’s purely a matter of personal taste in
which is the better version.
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