What may sound like hyperbole is really the only way to describe Spirited Away. It is not only one of the greatest animated movies, but also one of the best films ever made. Perhaps, no one will ever know what it’s truly about beyond observing that Hayao Miyazaki is the Japanese Steven Spielberg and, to a large degree, all of his movies are coming-of-age tales. But they are very honest about the pain and suffering of the process.
Spirited Away, his most popular film, opens with one of the most devastating experiences in the life of a ten-year-old girl after her parent’s divorce; moving to a new town. But, when her father finds a job, pouty Chihiro reluctantly follows her parents for the move to another part of Japan.
Hints of the strange new world awaiting her can be found in Miyazaki’s loving little details, such as the tiny spirit houses by the forest road. In Miyazaki’s works, even the ordinary world is magic and the old looking tunnel that Chihiro and her family stumble upon is not merely a curio discovered upon taking a wrong turn, but a portal into a world of spirits.
While her angst is shared by many children, it is obvious early on that Chihiro is an unusual girl. She is certainly wiser than her parents and notices that there is something off about the desolate village at the other end of the tunnel. As in Alice in Wonderland, everything is an illusion. The infrastructure is fake and we are not quite sure of Chihiro’s father is right when he presumes the place to be an abandoned theme park (a relic from Japan’s abruptly ended economic boom of the early 90s). There is evidence (such as rundown arcades) to suggest that he may, in fact, be right. But there has always been something creepy about abandoned parks and this one is no exception.
Here is where Chihiro’s wisdom supersedes that of her parents. Finding some food, they feast gluttonously; resting assured that their wealth will cover any problems that might arise. But they should know never to eat food in a place they don’t want to become stuck in. It’s a myth as old as the story of Persephone, who was forced to stay in the underworld after eating a pomegranate.
Spirited Away shares a trait with a lot of anime and manga in that in Anglicizes its main characters, but that’s not why it translates so well. Its themes and motifs are universal. Especially Chihiro’s need to depend on herself for survival after her parents are turned into pigs for eating food left out for the spirits. But it is also a very Japanese story with many of the land’s legends and social sentiments.
Chihiro’s parents are products of the new Japan. They are high-tech, flaunt credit cards, and are unaware of their country’s ancient beliefs. In a sense, the journey to the other side of the tunnel can be interpreted as a time trip back to the old Japan, a land of kwaidan, ghosts, and spirits. Haku, Chihiro’s guide to this new world, is even dressed in the robes of old times. He tells her that in order to get her parents back and go home, she must find a job and appease Yubaba, the powerful matriarch figure who rules the land with fear. Like the Red Queen, her counterpart in Alice in Wonderland, Yubaba has a giant head and is a strong but frightening figure. With the ability to morph into a gargantuan bird she keeps an eye on her workers from above and is controlled only by her behemoth of a baby.
This is a very unsettling world and, unlike other similar stories (such as the Wizard of Oz), we want Chihiro to find a way back home. It isn’t just that the atmosphere is so disquieting, but that it is nothing short of a work camp and not a place one would like to linger in. Chihiro will meet false and true friends as well as spooky sprites. At first, everyone discriminates against Chihiro for being human, but she eventually wins acceptance by bathing the Stink Spirit, contributing to Miyazaki’s ever-present environmental consciousness (he’s really a polluted river).
Among the friends she makes besides Haku is Lin, a fellow bath house worker, who knows the inner workings of the world well enough but dreams of better things outside. In traditional Japanese lore, spirits can be found everywhere in nature and they are drawn here with the imagination that sets Miyazaki apart. Working with Chihiro is an army of tiny pieces of soot (first seen in Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro), which burn near the furnace only to regenerate from the very ashes.
Upon a magical train ride, Chihiro also meets Zeniba, Yubaba’s kinder sister who, nevertheless, still has a sinister bite. Though to be fair, she casts a spell on Haku because she only knows him as Yubaba’s henchman. This is an ambiguous place anyway as exemplified by No Face, a silent phantom lurking by the bath house. What does he represent? Perhaps how greed can ruin even the best people. In the start of the film, humans were the greedy ones, consuming everything in their path. But once he discovers gold, No Face also becomes corrupted and is reformed only by accompanying Chihiro on the train ride to Zeniba’s cottage.
The train ride is among the most beautifully drawn parts of a gorgeous film. But the beauty of it is more than lush imagery. It is a collective effect of music, nightly atmosphere, and suspense. There are some ghostly passengers on the train that seem to be in a bizarre state between the human and spirit world. Maybe they are humans who died and are crossing over.
What should not be lost beneath Miyazaki’s delicate marvels is Chihiro’s growth as a young lady. It’s not long after her recruitment into the bath house prison that we notice her becoming persistent than she was at first, this even after she “loses herself” when she gives Yubaba her name. This is a common fairy-tale motif, giving your name equates giving yourself away, and it is played traditionally here. She becomes a brave, resourceful, and collected girl, but her true test comes when it is her turn to repay Haku’s favor and save his life. In the end, it is selflessness that proves a true marker of her growth as a woman.
Spirited Away is more than a great film, it is something of a miracle. Few movies have ever been so weird, scary, and, most importantly, have stuck with audiences as firmly as Spirited Away. It is a visual masterpiece and a narrative wonder. But equally rewarding is its foundation as the story of a little girl who prepares to face life.