By now Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki must be animation's best-kept secret; Pixar's John Lasseter and any number of Disney animators simply revere him, the venerable Mouse House has even decided to help finance him and 1997's "Princess Mononoke" raised his Western profile. For all of that, though, Miyazaki is still a secret and it would be a shame that, because of it, this touching and incredibly powerful fantasy shouldn't find the international audience it rightfully deserves. Not that Miyazaki is that bothered about it, since "Spirited Away" has become the all-time Japanese box-office champ, was the first animated film to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and had already cleared $200 million in international box-office before even opening in America (in France alone the film played to two million viewers). Basically, "Spirited Away" is a modified fairy-tale in the Japanese tradition, following the adventures of ten-year old Chihiro, a moody, spoilt young girl who finds herself trapped in the world of Japanese gods and spirits after her parents take a wrong turn with their car. The only way out of a dismal fate for the girl and her parents is for Chihiro to work in the bathhouse of the gods, where she will live through a series of fantastical adventures. Although what I've just written may make it seem childish, the story is practically unresumable and a lot more strange than it seems, recapturing the edgy nature of the earlier fairytales without ever allowing violence or wickedness inside; even so, it's probably good to leave younger kids at home since some of the images are far too weird for easy explanation. The film works best as a Japanese version of "Alice in Wonderland" without the witticisms and with an added heart, and is directed by Miyazaki in an effortlessly painterly style that enchants and intrigues at the same time. From its rather non-descript beginnings, "Spirited Away" develops into a moving parable about learning to know yourself that surprises you at each turn and ends up tugging your heart strings as much as it can without ever yielding to any sort of concessions. There's no other word: this is a masterpiece.
Review of Spirited Away
