The Beautiful Child-Like Whimsy of "Spirited Away"

Children are the protagonists in the films of Hayao Miyazaki. We see the world through their eyes. There's a a sense of wonder that pervades his films; it's a child-like wonder about the possibilities the world holds.

The films often start similarly. A family heads to a remote location, a new, unfamiliar place. They're moving into a new home. The distant place reveals itself to hold mysterious and fantastical things. It's the possibility of anything hiding, something awesome, just around the corner, just inside that forest or beyond that wall.

Kids are the heroes in these stories. It's childhood that is the unstated theme of the films. In Spirited Away, Chihiro is a ten year old girl; fearful of abandonment, worried no one will listen to her, that no one will understand her, that she'll lose those she cares most deeply about.

The animation of Studio Ghibli is unique. It's hand-drawn, lush, and soft. Simply drawn but filled with rich detail. The animation is infatuated with nature but also with spiritual, surreal and otherwordly things.

Chihiro and her parents stumble upon a fantastical other world filled with spirits and creatures. Her parents begin eating food randomly laid out, while Chihiro hesitates (Another Miyazaki trademark: children seeing the truth where adults cannot or will not). Her parents, eating like pigs, soon turn into giant pigs and mysterious, strange things start coming of the woodwork. 

Much of Spirited Away is storybook. Miyazaki is not really concerned with plot but with mood and atmosphere. The film is whimsical. The visions that the story comes up with are fanciful and splendid. The whimsy is also present in the story; Chihiro is befriended by a boy with magical powers, Haku, and turned into a work-slave by an evil witch. She's made to work at a bathhouse inhabited by anthromorphic animals, walking-talking vegetables, and other incredible sights (unlike those of any other film). Her love for her parents and Haku, and her faith in the goodness of those around her save the day.

Spirited Away is often considered to be Miyazaki's best film, his most representative (It's certainly one of his two or three best). It's a film with a lot of imagination and inventiveness. This is a film that's just a pleasure to spend time in its world; we enter following the tale of a child and leave feeling giddy like a kid again.

Grade: A