A Film For June: Spirited Away

This animated fantasy adventure was written and directed in 2001 by Hayao Miyazaki and is the story of 10 year old Chihiro who ,while moving to a new neighbourhood with her parents, finds she’s crossed into the world of kami, spirits of Shinto folklore.

Driving to their new home, Chihiro’s father decides to take a short cut and stops in front of a tunnel that appears to be leading to an abandoned amusement park. When her mother insists on exploring they find an empty restaurant still full of food, the parents can’t help but settle down to eat while Chihiro keeps exploring. There’s an enormous bathhouse and a boy called Haku who warns her to cross the riverbed before sunset. But what do you do when you discover your parents have been cursed into pigs and the river is now flooded?

Chihiro takes a job at the bath house and enters a surreal world of mystical and strange characters; among them Kamaji the multi limbed boiler room operator, Yubaba the evil witch and her kindly sister Zeniba and No Face; the lonely spirit who ingests others to gain their personality and physical traits. Chihuro is confused, she has no idea what’s going on and neither do we, but we discover together.

Materialism, pollution, ecology are some of the themes that Miyazaki holds up to the camera as Chihiro learns about respect and the need to be resourceful, and in doing so discovers her bravery and independence

It’s a familiar story, I was reminded of Alice in Wonderland, but it’s told with such detailed animation, that makes exquisite use of its rich, lavish colours that whether they’re running through a field of flowers or turning into a snarling dragon it’s always beautiful, vivid and horrifying.