Spirited Away

This film, framed with a standard child escapist scenario, is a stunning, inventive adventure from director Hayao Miyazaki. A young girl wanders from her parents (who are gorging themselves on food) and suddenly finds herself in a different, parallel world, full of bizarre creatures and mysterious happenings. Combining Peter Pan-like fantasy with Japanese lore, the world sprouting from Miyazaki's fertile imagination contains a healthy amount of oddity and grotesqueness. Certainly, the film may be seen simply as entertainment, but there is commentary behind the fantastical situations, as in the presence of a greedy, ghostlike No Name monster that will do anything for attention and then devour those who have fed its desire (The black hole of consumerism? A needy, lonely weird kid?). The girl is endangered by a witch/bath house manager who steals her employees' names (and thus their identities) binding them into her service - perhaps a good message for anyone entering into a dismal corporate career. The animation is excellent and the story manages to breathe life into the old, well-used plot of a child lost in an imaginary world.

Worth Watching
3.5 out of 5
Buy this film: Spirited Away

Plot: 3
Imagery: 4
Originality: 4
Soundtrack: 3 Buy the Spirited Away Soundtrack
Overall: 3.5