Amazing

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 2003)

Hayao Miyazaki's animated masterpiece is a very foreign film--and not simply because it comes from another country (Japan); there's an imagination at work that's so organic and remote that it seems to spring from an individual's subconscious and as such feels as if it has no immediate relation to a single culture. But it connects universally, speaking as it does in a language that suggests anything's possible and children of all cultures will respond to it instinctively. (And it will touch the inner child of adults.) There's a stunning clarity in Miyazaki's hand-drawn animation and it's clear that a painstaking effort is made to detail every frame. His use of color is striking and gratifying: rather than depend on the bright, flashy pastels that seem to be the choice of computer animators, he uses a rich but muted palate that emphasizes the dreamlike aspects of the story (a young girl must rescue her parents who have been turned into pigs by angry spirits and in turn discovers her capabilities for self-reliance; in this regard, it's not unlike most Disney films) and finds its pleasures in the darker aspects of the settings and the characters. The story takes its time to develop and though some may find it more arduous than entertaining (and, admittedly, its mildly humorous moments are few and far between), as it builds the rewards become more and more evident until, by its simply beautiful conclusion, it's overwhelmed you and left you dazed. Unique, infused with wisdom and love.