The Japanese rabbit hole

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2003)

It's all been said already so whatever praise I use will be redundant. But hell it's shear genius! I haven't cried in a movie in years, this doesn't count the movies that are so sentimental that the tears are forced. I felt a deep connection with the stories themes and messages about childhood, and love, about being strong. It matters very little that the story is Japanese, all that does is prove the universality of it's subject matter. Just like Alice fell down a rabbit hole, so does Chihiro enter her own rabbit whole.
The score by Joe Hisaishi is the first piece of music like the film, that has moved me to tears in a long long time. I recommend it to anyone as just music to listen to. And certainly seek out not only this film but the myths and monsters behind it. It will increase your enjoyment of this film to know why were the parents turned into pigs and not something else, what is a Kaonashi (no face)? Every detail from a bath house for spirits, to the river Sen has meaning and metaphor to the story and to our lives. This movie though enjoyable for children, is much better for an older audience in the way it shows us youth and how we ourselves have grown and the people and places that have shaped us and helped us to move into our new homes.
It requires several viewings to catch all the little themes and messages like when Chihiro pulls an old discarded bike out of the muck monster and it is finally able to breath again. This is the best film of the year and the best animated film I have ever seen. I will be showing it in my Mythology class and both my English and Poetry Classes. Live action would have hindered the story telling, animation allows a certain freedom, and Miyazaki doesn't pander to comic sidekicks and the intermission of songs to enthrall us. Nor does he resort to computers and his hand has drawn many of the images we see on screen. What Princess Mononoke did for environmental issues and the sacredness of the earth and it's creatures, Spirited Away does the same for youth and the human soul. This goes beyond film let alone Anime, this is a universal truth and like Shakespeare should have it's place among the great masterpieces of history.