It’s the fall of 2002. A young Chase Wheatley is obsessed with Warcraft III, blown away by Spider-Man, a little skeptical about the upcoming Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film, and he has definitely never heard of Studio Ghibli or their latest film, Spirited Away.
Luckily for me, Corey Breier’s mom had heard of them — or maybe she just took us to the movie theater and picked a random PG movie when she got there, who knows — and I got to watch a delightful movie that was unlike anything I’d ever seen. |
At times, Spirited Away (2001) feels almost self-indulgent on the part of director Hayao Miyazaki, and that’s not a bad thing. Mixing the magical and mundane, flowing with ease between the beautiful and the unnerving, showcasing incredible animation and striking character design — let the man treat himself, by all means. Unfortunately, the other hallmark of Miyazaki’s work — spirited heroines who go on meaningful journeys — doesn’t quite make an appearance here.
The movie opens with arguably its strongest scene: young Chihiro and her parents stumble upon what appears to be an abandoned amusement park, only to unknowingly trespass upon the world of spirits. Chihiro’s parents’ poor decision making leads to all three of them being trapped at what we learn is a hotel and spa for spirits. This scene is a masterpiece of slowly rising tension; it becomes increasingly clear that this small family should not be where they are, and the payoff was striking enough to stay with me ever since I watched this movie for the first time, 17 years ago. |
After our heroine is trapped, the movie quickly transitions to showcase another of its strengths: the inspired setting. Studio Ghibli has always excelled at blending the mundane and the magical, and nowhere does that skill shine brighter than as we explore the behind-the-scenes work of running a day spa for weary spirits.
The setting is a great way to spend time with various interesting spirits, but from the second act of the movie onward, whenever the main plot rears its ugly head, the movie suffers for it. The best scenes are tangential to the story being told — like Chihiro being tasked with bathing a grotesque stink spirit, or naively letting the ominous No-Face into the spa. The plot, as such, revolves around Chihiro escaping her contract with the spa owner and rescuing her parents. This largely happens by way of Haku, a mysterious dragon-boy who helps her navigate this strange world. The trouble is that Haku isn’t very interesting (don’t ask me how a mysterious dragon-boy manages to be boring), but the main message of the movie seems to revolve around the “true love” between him and Chihiro. |
The “love conquers all” moral simply doesn’t land — Chihiro’s romance with Haku is nonexistent, which makes it extremely weird when other characters start telling her that “only true love could have broken that spell!!” If there’s another message that the movie has to offer, I missed it. Aside from her purported love for Haku, Chihiro’s character seems to mostly revolve around her being polite, but “be polite” isn’t exactly much of a message either.
Speaking of Spirited Away’s heroine: unfortunately, Chihiro simply doesn’t measure up to the protagonists of other Ghibli movies. This is, granted, a very high bar — Chihiro is still a cut above the protagonists of many other children’s movies. But she doesn’t have Kiki’s can-do attitude, or Shizuku’s passion, or San’s strength and inner conflict. While she surpasses the milquetoast protagonists of Castle in the Sky, like them she feels more like an excuse to explore a fantastic word than a fully-realized character. By the end of the movie, I don’t know her any better than I did at the start. These flaws aside, Spirited Away is still a beautiful movie with a lot going for it. There’s plenty of classic Ghibli Moments™ here, evidenced by how much of the movie I remembered from my one viewing in 2001. What I did and didn’t remember actually turned out to be a pretty good indicator of which parts of the movie were effective — somehow, I managed to entirely forget about Haku’s existence, but the opening scene was seared into my memory, and I also remembered the unnerving No-Face, the many-armed Kamaji, and the abrasive-but-caring Lin.
Thanks, Mrs. Breier! Next up: The Cat Returns, a spin-off of Whisper of the Heart! Can freshman director Hiroyuki Morita carry on the magic that Yoshifumi Kondō infused into Whisper? Tune in next post to find out … Notes:
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