Spirited Away

Movie (Japanese), 2001, PG 

Premise - A young girl's parents are drawn into the allure of an abandoned tourist attraction. When they disrespectfully eat the food that had been left out, they are transformed into pigs by the spirit world. The young girl, now also trapped in the spirit world, must work among the spirits at an enchanted bathhouse to convince them to bring her parents back to their human form.


Review - I know that this is one of the most famous Miyazaki films of all time, and many consider it one of the best animated films of all time. I don't think I had ever seen it until now! I'm sure I watched clips of it in elementary school, but never from start to finish, and I could not recall anything about the story itself. It was interesting visiting this film from the first time as an adult, knowing it holds such strong nostalgic power in the lives of other people my age.

I had no idea what to expect, other than that I would be entertained. I had no idea this film would be so weird. The movie felt like it was on a looooot of drugs. Hella drugs. Strong drugs. The aesthetic somewhat reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, if I were to give a Western example. And the spirits were kind of gross! There was the stink spirit that turned out not to be a stink spirit, the black slugs, the three bouncing green heads, the giant creepy baby... like these were not aesthetically appealing spirits.

I cannot deny that I was highly entertained. I like weird films. However, I really think it needs that nostalgic factor to pack a powerful punch. The story was just average. Chihiro was adorable though (75/100).

Quote - "Once you meet someone, you never really forget them."

What to Watch For - I suppose identifying all the different creatures? There were some weird duck things and other various spirits just hanging out in the background that always made me laugh.

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Totoro!


Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Distributed by Toho
A Studio Ghibli Production