A stunning and lovely masterpiece! BUT the bad distribution and zero-promotion is a crime against movies.

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2002)

One of the things movies CAN do, and great movies ALWAYS do, is evoke: Dimensions, ways of being, feelings, thoughts, emotions, etc. Dimensions that are somehow "above and beyond" our normal, everyday lives. "Spirited Away" really does a great job of that. Any description I can imagine fails in capturing the essence of the movie. It is animated, but it is no cartoon. In fact, its essence, its life, its "legs" are so much richer and closer to a truth of some kind than many conventional movies shot on film stock with more or less human actors. For example, "Spirited Away," in my opinion, is much more real and much more watchable than any Julia Roberts performance ever put on film. "Spirited Away" is, in fact, a breath of fresh, vibrant air. OH MY GOD--- I sound like a film school graduate--- but it's true nonetheless.
One very sad thing, however, is the lack of promotion and evident lack of care exhibited by the U.S. distributor--- Disney Studios, is it? I was eagerly awaiting a chance to see this movie, but when it finally did arrive there was zero advertising in my community, so I almost missed it. Some friends called me and said it was playing nearby and they asked if I wanted to see it on a Wednesday night. I said sure--- although I was a bit shocked that it had come to my town completely unannounced. Good thing we went that Wednesday (it had come to the theater just four days before, on the Friday), because it was gone in only two more days. WHAT??? A masterpiece like this only played for 7 days! And even sadder, the four of us sat in an almost empty theater during a "prime time" screening. That is a crime against art. A crime against movies!!! I'm sure that if the movie had been advertised and promoted on TV, many, many people--- adults, families, kids--- of all kinds would have really enjoyed themselves at this flick. Buying the rights to it, and then ignoring it and even virtually burying it away like they've done is shabby treatment for a master-work, and very tacky. Does the entire corporate world treat innocent creativity and joyous movie making in this way?
If you have any chance at all to see this movie (even a 4 hour drive would be worth it), please do yourself a favor and hie thee thither. It is more than amazing--- it is thoroughly entertaining, and most wonderful!