Domo Arigato!

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2008)

Domo Arigato (thank you very much) to all the voters who gave this feature such an high score and guided me to see how superior "Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi" is even to the best Disney and Pixar films. To be much better than "Ratatouille", "The Lion King" and "The Incredibles" is quite an achievement. I had never thought that I would see animated features better than those. Cause I really like Disney/Pixar though it seems almost boring next to this.
Chihiro is a nervous little girl who's on the move with her parents. When they're on the way to their new home, they get lost on a road into the woods and ends up in a tunnel who leads to something they think is an abandoned amusement park. When the parents start eating from a table full of delicious food who just happens to be on a table in this place, the day turns to night, her parents turn to pigs and the world changes to something scary, weird and completely different...
This tale is the work of geniuses. I have never seen such an always captivating film filled to the brim with wonderful and unique characters, as well as an original, exciting and constantly surprising story. The feature contains an amazing mixture of adventure, action and drama with some drops of cream comedy on the top. I simply couldn't take my eyes away from the screen a second of the two hours, two hours who felt more like 30 minutes. It is such extraordinary entertainment to watch Chihiro using the power of courage and love to save her loved ones. I could keep going on with the superlatives but you have probably taken my point by now.
I definitely recommend this movie in Japanese with subtitles. It simply feels much more natural that way than it does dubbed. All in all "Spirited away" is the best animated feature and even one of the best films I have ever seen. I nearly never give movies 10/10 but this time I simply must.