Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greats, on the same level as Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman. His films possess the same depth and layers in his own unique style. Much of his earlier work has been genius (Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke), but Spirited Away transcends masterpiece status. Composed of layer upon layer, it creates its own terminology.
In the midst of moving to the suburbs, a young girl named Chihiro wanders into an abandoned amusement park with her parents. Seeing plate upon plate of delicious food unguarded, her mother and father dive in and much to Chihiro's dismay, slowly turn into pigs. She soon discovers that she's in some kind of spirit world and must remain there in order to rescue her parents. She's put to work by Yubaba, ruler of the bathhouse where spirits come to relax. During her stay, she meets many creatures, all with vibrant personalities and unique characteristics. Included among them are a boy (or is he?) named Haku, a tiny talking frog, a radish spirit, enchanted soot balls, three green, grunting bearded heads and a behemoth of a baby.
Spirited Away's core story is rooted in the mold of Alice in Wonderland and Fantasia. It's been done before. However, today's films frequently bludgeon us with overbearing scores and tritely pull our heartstrings and Miyazaki's honesty and trust in his audience is refreshing. We are never told that Chihiro is in a spirit world. Why should we be? It is perfectly decipherable without it being shoved in our face. Similar restraint is shown throughout the film. Greed, lonelineness, and selfishness are of particular note.
Like Princess Mononoke, the characters here are multi-dimensional. Yubaba may come across as cruel and heartless but in reality, she's simply an entrepreneur. Frequently, characters appear to be treacherous or kindly, then shift gears fifteen minutes later. Gruff manners or sugary tongues mean little in Miyazaki's world; we must dig deeper to discern who Chihiro can trust.
Shortly after being employed at the bathhouse, Chihiro meet No-Face, a creature without an identity. Thinking that he's merely another customer, Sen (as Chihiro is known at the baths) grants him access to the baths. No-Face proceeds to wreak havoc; he lures the staff to him by throwing them free money, gorges himself on as much food as they can bring him, eats several workers, and tears the place up. Yet he displays a strange affinitity for Sen. When she is around, he is calm, gentle. Indeed, "No-Face" is an appropriate name for him; he has no real personality of his own and morphs persona's to blend with his current enviornment. The bathouse was full of greed and as such, No-Face went ballistic. Around Chihiro, her inner peace is able to tame him to an extent and when they leave the baths, he is completely at her disposal, timid as a mouse. Deep down, No-Face is lonely, craving attention and contentment. And when offered a chance to live a quiet, peaceful existence, he ecstatically accepts, the havoc of the past simply a memory.
Miyazaki's visual style is exceptionally complete. For Princess Mononoke, he and his art directors traveled to ancient forests for research purposes and similar care has obviously been put into Spirited Away. The characters are fludily drawn but it's the backgrounds and colors that truly set him apart. Every frame seems to have at least one remarkable image: many induce chills. Among them are tears floatng upwards and a gorgeous train ride which might be my favorite film moment of all. The lovely score is predominantly subtle, occasionally picking up the pace when a specific scene warrants it.
There's nothing here that parents will find objectionable for their children but this is above all an adult film. Many of the themes that I've discussed have taken multiple viewings to chip away. Spirited Away is one of the best movies ever made.
Review by Gabe Leibowitz: 2/23/03
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