The movie is a Japanese Animation (anime) directed by Miyazaki, the director of other popular titles such as Princess Mononoke, Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and a bunch more. The titles are generally very good and very popular among anime fans. Spirited Away is another work of art that I'm sure most people will love.
I was VERY surprised to see movie posters for Spirited Away (I’m in London), as animes are rarely shown in movie theatres. You can often find a small selection of DVDs in most of the popular high-street entertainment shops like HMV and Virgin, and a wider selection in stores such as Forbidden Planet, with all the cult titles and merchandise, but that’s it. Most people don’t know what anime is as far as I know.
The story is about a young girl, Chihiro, (aged 8-13?). Anyway, the movie begins with Chihiro and her parents in the car on their way to their new house in the country side. The father, not sure on how to reach the new house decides on a route through a long wooded area.
When they finally reach the end, they do not find their new home, instead they find a strange looking building with a small dark tunnel entrance, with a statue in front. The father, being the adventurous type, decides to explore,
despite Chihiro’s reluctance. Both the parents enter the tunnel leaving Chihiro behind, but Chihiro being afraid to be alone, shortly follows.
At the end of the tunnel, they find a large room. After exiting the room, they enter a field with a town up ahead. The father comes to the conclusion that it was an abandoned theme park. The three continue to explore but then the father smells food that smelt good so they follow the smell into the town. They find that all the buildings were restaurants but the whole town seemed abandoned with no one around.
They find the source of the smell at a food stall but even after the father called for someone, there was no response so the parents decide to eat first and pay for the food later when someone shows up. Chihiro refuses to eat and just wants to go home.
While the parents start to eat non-stop, and ignoring their daughter, Chihiro decides to explore the town. She stops in the middle of a bridge and on that bridge she meets a boy who seemed concerned of her presence. The boy tells her that she should not be there and insists that she leaves before dark, in a very urgent manner. As the sky starts to darken, he exclaims that ‘they’ were lighting the lanterns, he’ll distract ‘them’, and tells Chihiro to cross back over the river. Chihiro makes her way back to the food stall where her parents were eating, whilst seeing all sorts of lights and lanterns being lit across town. Spirits appeared out of nowhere while the lights are lit.
Chihiro reaches the food stall where her parents are, to find that they are still eating. She tries to persuade her father to take her back but he ignores her. When her father turns his head to face her, to Chihiro’s surprise, his face had changed to that not of a man but to the face of a pig. He had lost all human thoughts and only had the desire to eat. His whole body was larger and the food stall was a mess. An unclear image of a person appears behind the stall counter and starts to beat Chihiro’s father to the ground with a fly swatter. Chihiro runs away calling for her parents, while watching more spirits emerging out of nowhere. Soon after, Chiriro sees that her arms were fading as if she was disappearing…
What happens next? You watch it and find out! :P
She’s trapped in a strange new world and must pull up the courage to face the challenge of rescuing her parents. This movies develops her character well and shows how she grows strong as well as showing us a lot of strange characters.
Now what else can I say about this? The story behind this is very unique and has a lot of imagination and thought put into it. If you think it’s weird and interesting now, this is just the beginning. There’s much more to come. I think that the cast of characters is creative and one of the things I enjoyed seeing most in this anime. It’s very enjoyable and I’ve even watched it three times! If you like Miyazaki directed animes, then you’ll probably love this, but you don’t have to have seen any other of his works to enjoy it.
This animated movie is aimed at and is suitable for younger audiences, as it doesn’t really contain violence, sex, or swearing, but if I remember correctly, there is a bit of blood with a dragon. Although suitable for children, I feel that adults can also enjoy this movie.
I think that the movie is aimed at those who enjoy magic, fantasy, and fairy tales, and unusual things. This is what the movie is all about. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a big fan of anime. You can still enjoy this movie. Unfortunately, even if me and people I know love it, people have different opinions so some may prefer anime of different genres (or no anime at all).
The music sounds great and blends in well with the story. So well, in fact that I hardly notice it when watching the movie. Those who enjoy classical music will enjoy it for sure. The Original Soundtrack is also available for purchase.
Check out oriental places.
If you're in London, there's an oriental shopping centre called Oriental City in Colindale.
Also, Japan Center in Piccadilly Circus.
Forbidden Planet shops (the bigger ones) can also stock it and other places that import.
****** BAD points about the movie *******
Not many. Just that the ending was rushed. It's a happy ending but I think they could have done a better job. I won’t tell you how it ended as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.
I heard/read that it was because they wanted to keep it around 2 hours.
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Certificate – PG Year – 2002 Languages – Japanese / English (on the DVD) Voiced By: Daveigh Chase ; Jason Marsden ; Lauren Holly ; Michael Chiklis ; Suzanne Pleshette Running time - 2 hours and 12 minutes (approx)
It’s currently available on Region 1 DVD but was shown in selected UK cinemas. For the DVD, check out www.playusa.com (U.S. mirror of www.play.com)
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Thanks for reading! ^____^
Pictures of Spirited Away (Animated) (DVD)
DVD cover
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The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history, Hayao Miyazaki'sSpirited ... more
Away(Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi) is a dazzling film that reasserts the power of drawn animation to create fantasy worlds. Like Dorothy inThe Wizard of Ozand Lewis Carrol...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The highest grossing film in Japanese box-office history, Hayao Miyazaki'sSpirited ... more
Away(Sen To Chihiro Kamikakushi) is a dazzling film that reasserts the power of drawn animation to create fantasy worlds. Like Dorothy inThe Wizard of Ozand Lewis Carrol...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
From one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animated cinema comes the ... more
most acclaimed film of 2002 winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin and the 2003 Oscar for Best Animated Film and the highest grossing film in Japanese cinema history. ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
A remarkable fantasy adventure film quite unlike any other. Spirited Away tells the story ... more
of Chihiro, a headstrong 10-year-old girl, unhappy that her family are moving house and that she will have to make new friends.As they make their way to the new h...
Advantages: As imaginative as a film can get, faultless animation, stunning design, excellent characters, decent dialogue, nice soundtrack, plenty of extras Disadvantages: Sure to be ignored in Europe
![Spirited Away [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/83201946.jpg "Spirited Away [DVD]")
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