Spirited Away (2001)

It is not a secret that I have a semi-unhealthy relationship with Studio Ghibli, all of it started when I watched the movie Spirited Away for the first time when I was about five years old. While I have seen a lot of people complain about the fact that they were scared of this movie when they were growing up, probably due to the traumatising scene where Chihiro’s (the main character) parents get turned into pigs due to their greed and gluttony.

As a child, you simply like things not because of their quality, but because there is something that draws you to it. For me, I believe it was a combination of the traditional Studio Ghibli style of animation and the soundtrack composed by Joe Hisaishi that plays all throughout the movie.

Whilst this was a movie that I watched and re-watched more times than I can count, I enjoy going back to movies with observation lenses on. Prior to doing animation myself last year, I never quite paid attention to the technique of it, and how animation is done. So, I decided to re-watch this movie while being more of aware of this.

One of the things that I have noticed, is how detailed the backgrounds are, these are very clearly still images that are not in any way animated and were painted by hand. The shadows, highlights, everything is painted in very close detail. In juxtaposition to it, the objects that move, the ones that the characters interact with and the characters themselves are not only outline but seem to have a layer of flat colour to them. This likely because they have to animated and it is much easier to keep continuity when it is done this way. It is not something that you notice a huge stark difference in, but it is definitely noticeable when you seek for it.

Animation technique aside, the immense creativity of the story is absolutely blind blowing to me. The imagination that must be needed to create such a complex universe, with hundreds of characters living in it each of them having its own role in the story.

The villain/heroine aspect in Miyazaki’s movies is also completely different to those I am used to seeing in Western Cinema. The villains are not really villains, they are antagonists, but you understand their motivations and always manage to see the qualities in them. Which is something not commonly seen in, for example, the classical Disney animation movies. Where you simply hope and await the villain’s demise, that always comes.

Another thing to note is the pacing of the movie. One thing Miyazaki is not scared of is to add moments in which the characters do nothing but stare into the distance or look into the beautiful scenery.

Regarding this, Miyazaki says that, "We have a word for that in Japanese," he said. "It's called 'ma.' Emptiness. It's there intentionally. The time in between my clapping is 'ma.' If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it's just busyness.” Claiming that a lot of American animation movies in contrast, seem to be scared of silence. Those moments of peace for me, add yet another layer of complexity to the movie.

This movie remains one of my favourites, and it always will. Not just in the animation genre but in general. It is simply absolutely magical; the story just captivates the audience immediately and it sends the beautiful message of not only love but also the important of remembering.

One of my favourite quotes from this movie is,

“Nothing that happens is ever forgotten, even if you can’t remember it.”

All images used are screencaps from the movie.