Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than just a brilliant animated feature..., 14 Dec 2006
Occasionally, just occasionally, a film becomes a culture in its own right, and everything it is related to falls away around it to leave it standing on its own. Spirited Away is such a film. It has taken over box office records in Japan, and not done too badly in the western hemisphere, widely being cited as one of, or even the, best animated film ever produced.
But Miyazaki's epic is not just a brilliant animated film. It is a brilliant film. All too often, animated features are great because of the animation, that is the technical dazzle and sheer fantasy nature that the animated medium allows for. And that's great. Spirited Away, however, goes further. The themes it touches on - greed, emotional attachment and the imperfection complex that blights every human being; as well as presenting the importance of traditional values - can be found nestled in the scripts of the deepest live action films.
We quickly become immunised to the sheer weirdness of the world presented to us in this film, and that helps us identify with the characters that we might otherwise struggle with.
The plot is summarised well above, but to give a brief outline (which falls massively short of doing the film's complexity justice); I don't want to ruin the sheer surprise of the exotic, and downright bizarre nature of the spirit world; suffice to say it'll leave you dumbstruck and inspired by the attention to detail that has gone into it. Essentially, the film follows Chihiro, a ten year old girl, who, along with her parents, is transported magically into a world of spirits and sorcery. When her parents are turned into pigs by a cruel spell, she must battle her way through the politics and intrigue of the society she has been stranded in. Helping and hindering her along the way are the friendly but icy spirit Haku, and the greedy sorceress Yubaba. Chihiro must find her way out of the spirit world alive, and with her parents restored to human form. Confused? You will be, so the trick is to let go for two hours and allow yourself to become immersed in the fantasy of this spirit world.
You come away from this film feeling like you've learnt something, feeling like you've had a good time, and absolutely certain that you're going to watch it again. This is the hallmark of a good film - shelf life - and in this respect Spirited Away is timeless. Like all truly brilliant motion pictures (e.g. Where Eagles Dare, The Sting, Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon), you come away with a substantial number of questions, and a need to have a repeat viewing to start to answer some of them.
Purists will prefer the original Japanese version, but the dubbed English version has made the film accessible to many more; and, as it's an animated film, the dubbing is considerably less obvious than with live action films. As an animator, I have found a repetitive draw to this film for inspiration and ideas; but as a regular movie-goer, I simply find it a truly excellent, must-see flick.
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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's absolutely worth to see., 17 Sep 2004
I am Japanese, so I should describe a review in terms of Japanese point of view. Miyazaki is pretty popular in Japan, not only do children see his movies, but also adults. In this movie, he is showing the Japanese ancient, but almost forgotton sense of value. In a movie there are many gods visiting a bath house in order to rest. Japanese ancient religion contains so-called 8 million gods, which means everything has spirit. The meaning of this is we would respect everything. If you believe that a god lives in your coffee cup, you feel it valuable and would try to use it as long as possible. Moreover if you respect each river, mountain, and other nature stuff, it leads to environmental protection, which is Miyazaki's big concern. If you like it, I recommend to see other movies produced by Miyazaki. My favorite is Nausica, and Laputa is also fantastic.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Classic, 7 Dec 2003
Miyazaki is not well known outside anime fans in the UK, even though the feature Castle in the Sky (originaly titled Laputa) was shown over Christmas periods a few times, but he deserves to be. His works are what Disney strives to be but fails each time. Miyazaki pulls out fantastical masterpieces that dirve the imagination to new levels and they are enjoyable for all audiences no matter their age.Hiragi and her family are moving to a new home and after taking a wrong turn, the wind up exploring an abandoned amusement park. Hiragi's parents happen upon a vast display of food and start stuffing themselves, Hiragi continues her exploration of the area and is warned to leave before night falls, returning to her parents, she discovers that they have turned into pigs and night is falling. Without understanding why, she is thrown into another world, one inahbited by spirits, witches, demons and monsters and only in this world can she possibly find hope in bringing her parents back to their original state. The animation is top notch and the storytelling is on par for Miyazaki (perfection, as always) and this is a movie that is worth beinf seen by all. Easily 5 stars and would grant more if I could.
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