Miyazaki's Best Yet!!

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2002)

Here's an easy one: If you come across a shop with a sumptuous spread of food and the proprietor is not in sight, do you: (a.) Start eating the food with the intent of settling later, or (b.) abstain from eating--regardless of the temptation--because it was wrong. In the film, two out of three respondents answered (a.) and were transformed into what they behaved as: pigs. Such starts out Hayao Miyazaki's finest work to date, "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi." ("Spirited Away" in US theaters) This is the finest animated film I have ever seen and is near the top of my list of films of any genre.
The main character of the story, a 10-year old girl named Chihiro Ogino, is a normal child thrust by her parents into a strange world and is immediately left to fend for herself--as she was the one out of three who chose the correct course of action by not eating the food. Throughout the remainder of this beautiful film, she is faced with numerous choices--each crafted by Miyazaki to emphasize the importance of living a virtuous life. While the specific cases use things from Japanese folklore, traditions, and culture (and Miyazaki's incredible imagination), the fundamental virtues apply Universally to all.
One admonition: the English-dubbed version, though touted as being true to the original, actually changes the nature of the film slightly.
The original Japanese language release, subtitled if necessary, is a truer rendition of Miyazaki's imagination.
On a scale of ten, I'd give this one an 11.