One of the most beautiful films ever made - Spirited Away

Seeing all of the Miyazaki films on the big screen has been an absolute delight. Being one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, this is the one I was most excited for. It's going to make the film hard to talk about, as the biggest pull of Spirited Away was the fantastic visuals, and there really isn't a way to do that justice in words.

Spirited Away is the story of a young girl who ends up getting stuck in the realm of spirits, trying to free her parents who had gotten turned into pigs for eating the food there. A spirit named Haku helps keep her safe and gets her a job in the Spirit world so she can stay. For some reason, Haku knows Chihiro, though is unsure when they met before.

Now this is the one criticism I have of the movie, and the more I am rewatching these films the more this seems to be a bit of a recurring issue with Miyazaki's films, and that's the sheer amount of coincidence that occurs to keep the plot moving. A small amount is fine, such as Chihiro happening to end up here with Haku, but it gets pretty crazy after a bit. After she is employed at the Spirit Bathhouse, a great river spirit shows up, and she ends up working the Bath he goes too. For helping him out, she is gifted a strange medicine. This medicine just so happens to be able to cure the two separate people of a sort of curse. Then there is No Face showing up, and the distractions caused by him essentially allow Chihiro to escape. There are a few more, but without a pile of coincidences, the plot wouldn't have happened.

That said, I kind of chalk it up to the same reason it didn't bother me to much in Castle of Cagliostro. A strong narrative was never really the focus of Spirited Away. Great characters, outstanding visuals, and emotional moments are what drive the narrative.

Characters change and grow as the story moves forward, the visuals are not only beautiful but there is an incredible variety, and every time the story calls for it the emotion is high. I may not have outright cried, but I was a little misty-eyed more than once during this film. The growth of Chihiro as a character from beginning to end is probably the best story of a child who is spoiled going on to learn the error of her ways I have ever seen in my life.

She doesn't start off overblown like some shows do, and you can sympathize with why she is being bratty. She's a little girl, and she is forced to move away from all her friends and a home she came to know. It's pretty understandable she's not very understanding of the situation, so the character feels real. She's also quite clingy as some children are, and you get a sense from the very first scene she isn't very self-reliant without having to be told any of it. Her actions and mannerisms tell you all you need to know about the character without it being spoon fed to you through dialogue. Even a character like No Face, who speaks no dialogue (well, he does for a bit, but that's a bit of an odd situation), has an incredible amount of character through the use of only small movements and sounds. It's amazing the amount you can learn about these characters with such small detail.

If you haven't, go see Spirited Away. Even if not in theaters, even if you aren't really an Anime fan, this movie appeals to pretty much everyone. It's not just a great anime movie but truly is an all-time classic film regardless of genre. Go watch it.