SPIRITED AWAY
a masterpiece by Hayao Miyazaki
During her family's move to a small Japanese town in the countryside, Chihiro, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Designed as a very special coming-of-age tale,
Spirited Away tells the story of
Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who navigates the labyrinths of life in a
mystical microcosm inhabited by ancient spirits. Over the course of her
journey in this alternate world, Chihiro learns valuable lessons about
the fundamental nature of the universe as well as the importance of
friendship.
Through the use of soft world-building, Miyazaki constructs a memorable
heterotopic environment that is infinitely nuanced and densely packed
with mysterious entities that we don’t quite know or understand. These
magical creations linger on in our minds long after the film is over,
shaping our own memories of the indelible experience of witnessing
Miyazaki’s mastery.
The reason why Spirited Away has resonated with audiences all over the world despite the existence of cultural barriers is because of its brilliantly devised universality. Miyazaki explained: “I created a heroine who is an ordinary girl, someone with whom the audience can sympathise. It’s not a story in which the characters grow up, but a story in which they draw on something already inside them, brought out by the particular circumstances. I want my young friends to live like that, and I think they, too, have such a wish.”