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Japanese director
Hayao Miyazaki achieved instant fame in the United States with the
release in 1999 of Princess
Mononoke, an animated film in the Japanese style known as anime. He
follows up with what looks to be an even bigger hit, Spirited Away, the highest
grossing film in Japanese history.
Anime characters tend to have big doe-like eyes, a characteristic which
may rub up against prejudices based on the American kitsch-artists Margaret and Walter
Keane whose sentimental paintings of large-eyed children were the nadir of 1970's
taste in art. Any such doubts quickly fade before the artistic accomplishment of Miyazaki.
Spirited Away is elegant animation, sometimes startling in the complexity of its
images. Equally as important, though this is essentially a children's story, it is rich in
meanings--drawing on universal themes about the nature of growing up and moving out into
the world. It does so with understated charm and an abundance of freshly imagined images,
staying well away from the boundaries of kitsch.
Chihiro and her family are moving to a new town, filling Chihiro with
concern about a new school and new friends. En route by car, the family takes a detour and
discover what her father believes to be an abandoned theme park. Chihiro wanders away and
adventures begin. No one seems to be around, but they have stumbled on the bathhouse of
the spirits; Chihiro's parents partake of a feast they come across, only to be
turned into swine for eating the food of the spirits. Chihiro meets a handsome boy, Haku,
who offers assistance, sending her to the boiler room of the bathhouse to work.
What follows is a series of adventures and meetings with characters as
diverse, quirky and amusing as anything beyond the looking glass. Kamaji, the kindly
creature who runs the boiler room is an embodiment of the worker; with extra arms and legs
that are in constant motion. There's a radish spirit, a genuinely gross slime monster with
a thorn in its side, and a spirit called "No Face" who has a Noh-like mask.
The old lady in charge,Yubaba, is a witch-like tyrant who smokes, casts
spells, and is the mother of a gargantuan baby. (In the English-language-dubbed script,
she is not beyond saying, "Such a klutz!") At times she calls to mind the Queen
of Hearts, sharing that monarch's arbitrary authoritarian attitude. It turns out that
Yubaba has a twin sister as well, quite her opposite.
Chihiro makes an endearing hero. She is properly fearful when scary
things happen, but she's also curious and plucky, brave when she has to be, and kind when
others aren't. (Kindness is rewarded; greed is not.) One could choose a worse role model
for youngsters. Somehow, too, Miyazaki knows how to do "scary" while keeping a
sense of humor and not traumatizing the kids, as some misguided children's films do.
At better than two hours, Spirited Away may challenge the
attention span of small children and some adults will be looking at their watches from
time to time. But if the story seems to spin on with occasionally overly elaborated
complications, the visuals never cease to be sheer pleasure. Miyazaki is especially
accomplished with the quality of transparency, whether an invisible character, seen only
to the audience as the audience simultaneously sees through the character,
or passing scenery seen through a car window which is also reflecting what is inside the
car. Misty landscapes, seascapes with rippling water, and the effects of light are all
captured with amazing facility, originality, and beauty. It's the sort of film that gives
rise to the awed question, "How did he do that?"
- Arthur Lazere
