good old fashioned kids movie

Rating: 10/10 (26 August 2002)

I just got the HK DVD (japanese with english subtitles) of this and compared to all of the Miyazaki films, this is a small departure but excellent in all new ways.
Usually Miyazaki has strong lead female characters, but Chihiro (Sen) is quite shy and weak, but transforms which is exactly the point of the movie. It's a great teaching film for kids and never gets heavy moralistic or filled with tacked-on adult issues. Its about being pushed and accepting the challenge and dealing with hardship in a noble way.
Its also got a good amount of scary stuff thrown in, which I recall, made my childhood stories all that more better (Slovenly Peter and Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl scared the bejeezus out of me as a kid). Scary yes, but once adjusted, the frightening spirit world which the small girl Sen is suddenly trapped in contains very human-esque monsters, and cute critters as well for laughs. I like the concept in the story that the sprit world inhabitants are repulsed by humans and are more scared of Sen than Sen is of these monsters.
We know that Miyazaki aint pulling any punches when dealing with kids stories. No sappy Disney crap here. People bleed, die and suffer in Miyazaki's films, but like any good epic adventure, suffering builds character and creates strong-willed and sophisticated people out of mere children.
Sen is an amazing fantasy. You are sucked in almost immediately and really identify with the protagonist, who must figure out how to survive and eventually escape back to her own world. Its surrealism to the highest level in the definition of being dreamlike. Its a vivid dream you'll remember for days if not a lifetime.