Miyazaki's Masterpeice: Spirited Away

    I was looking into anime films by Hayao Miyazaki, and the most popular one by far seemed to be Spirited Away.  This 2001 film by Studio Ghibli and Disney won academy awards and has been called "Miyazaki's masterpiece," for its beautiful art and meaning. But what is the meaning that Miyazaki has to offer in this film?

     Once upon a time, a ten year old girl by the name of Chihiro was moving to a new home with her parents. On the way they stumble onto an abandoned village, which they think to be an empty amusement park. When they find a table with delicious food, Chihiro's parents decide to dig in, but Chihiro refuses. While exploring the park, Chihiro runs into a bath house and a young boy who tells her that she needs to leave immediately. Chihiro tries to escape from the park, only to find that she is now trapped in a world of spirits and her parents turned into pigs. Now her only option is to stay there until she finds a way to help them. With the help of the young boy named Haku, Kamaji the boiler man, and a young woman named Lin, Chihiro manages to get a job in the bathhouse, owned by the witch Yubaba. Now under a contract with Yubaba, Chihiro's name has been taken and she is now to called Sen. Will Chihiro be able find her way in a world of spirits and remember her true name as well as help Haku remember his? Or is she going to spend eternity as a worker in the bathhouse?

     One of the many good things I've heard about Spirited Away is that "the storyline is intriguing and abstract." After seeing the film and receiving input, I have found this to be indeed true. That being said, there were still things that I didn't understand. Why did No Face go crazy in the bathhouse? Why do some the spirits like Haku look human? One thing that I heard is that it helps if you understand the Japanese culture. I would love FRIENDLY opinions and input about this film so be sure to leave them in the comments!

     

Before a Bath

After a Bath

     Spirited Away is mostly about Chihiro, but there is more to the story than meets the eye. It's true to life because it shows how some relationships are between the employee and the employer, and it also tells us to be kind to nature. It made wonderful sense when it was pointed out to me that the river spirit covered in mud represents this. When the spirit comes to take a bath, it's up to Sen and the rest of the workers to pull tons of junk out of the spirit, restoring his true and more powerful self.
   While Chihiro is at the bathhouse she has to call herself Sen while remembering that her name is Chihiro at the same time. She needs to remember other things about herself too, such as her normal clothes, and the goodbye card that was given to her by her best friend. Spirited Away teaches us about the value of identity. You never know when you're going to be in a time or place when the fact of who you is going to be challenged.
    Memory is also a big part of it. Besides herself, Chihiro has to remember which of all the pigs in the pig pen are her parents. All pigs look alike don't they? But Chihiro has been told to remember things about her parents and Haku to help recognize them. The witch Zeniba tells Chihiro that, "Once you've met someone you never really forget them. It just takes a while for your memories to return." 

   John Lasseter tells us that Chihiro "grows tremendously," as a person throughout the film, and she most definitely does. When we first meet Chihiro, she's a little bit whiny and grumpy. We can't blame her of course, because it's hard moving to a new place. But she does tend to have an impatient, and apathetic attitude. But at the end of the movie she is more pleasant.
     Once the film starts, it's not long before we come to the point of Chihiro working in the bathhouse. As far as film time goes, she is thrown into her situation rather quickly, and she was not all prepared to face a witch and a bathhouse full of spirits. At this time we could choose to either criticize the pacing of the film or look at it some other way. When you think about it, bravery was something that Chihiro needed to have from the very beginning. So where did she get the courage she needed if there was little to no preparation prior to her journey? She already had it. Chihiro had to summon up all the courage that was already inside of her. The journey Chihiro goes on in Spirited Away was an opportunity for her to use the abilities and potential she didn't know she had. By the time her adventure is over, Chihiro knows that if she can take on the many dangers of being a human in the spirit world, she can certainly be able to manage a new home and a new school.

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