Spirited Away

Spirited Away is not only an astonishingly enchanting spectacle, but it is also one of the most meaningful illustrations of why Hayao Miyazaki should not be referred to as the “Japanese Disney”. Even though this appellation is used in a commendable effort to introduce this exceptional artist to potential viewers who have never heard of him (and such viewers still exist), it also cruelly robs the films of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli of their distinctiveness. What the works of this completely solitary director have in common with the films turned out by the Disney factory is, at most, the superficial fact that they are commercially successful and animated. And such is the case with the frequent description of Spirited Away as the “Japanese/anime Alice in Wonderland”. After all, it suffices to compare Miyazaki’s film with the Disney adaptation of Alice from 1951, which is a typical product of precision studio production – an optimised product that is not the work of a single creator, but of a team, where the position of director was occupied by several animators specialising in different aspects of animation, while the same approach is applied to the script, which passed through the hands of thirteen different specialised screenwriters, who modified the source work into an attractive form. This model is identical for all classic animated films from the Disney studio; even in the era of the studio’s renaissance, direction was (with rare exceptions) divided among at least two animators. Conversely, Studio Ghibli essentially focuses on works by individual filmmakers, with Miyazaki and Takahata each involved separately in their respective films as directors and screenwriters. Miyazaki has lent his creative auspices to the projects of other, younger directors as the author of their screenplays. Whereas in the absolute majority of cases the Disney studio adapted books or based its films on classic myths and legends, Miyazaki’s pictures mostly come from the master’s own imagination. Even in the exceptional case where the story is based on a particular work (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle), the resulting film goes its own way and is rather only inspired by the source work. Miyazaki has never concealed his inspirations and his work is fascinating in how, among other things, he is able to combine elements from Japanese and European literature, culture and history into unique visions that gain the weight of universality through the similarities of their motifs with classic works. In the case of Spirited Away and Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, both works are about a girl who enters a fantasy world and looks for a way out, but in all other respects they are fundamentally different, to the point of being contradictory. Alice offers intensified sensations that serve to attract children’s attention, while the story is conceived as wordplay based on nonsense and absurd logic. In the book, Carroll reflected on and ridiculed a number of systems, norms and rituals of the upper crust and (apparently) based individual characters on actual archetypes. In line with that, the narrative itself establishes the heroine’s adventure as a dream in which things that are known to her from the real world take on a fantastic form. During her stay in the dream world, she does not undergo a more fundamental change or development and adulthood remains only a promise; on the contrary, her emerging personality and growing self-confidence are celebrated. Though Miyazaki lays out a fascinating world before the viewers’ eyes, he focuses solely on the female protagonist Chihiro, for whom that world becomes a catalyst of sorrow from the parallel real world and, primarily, her initiation into adolescence. Adulthood is not conceived here as a set of social norms or self-confidence in behaviour, but rather as the state of being free of stubbornness and self-centeredness and thus gaining empathy and an awareness of one’s own identity and roots. The individual supporting characters represent various forms of these qualities and go through the same developmental arc together with Chichiro (No-Face and Yubaba's child). Specific plot motifs (taking on names such as enchantment, memories) thematicise identity and the building blocks thereof. Chihiro thus grows out of being an obstinate and internally confused girl who finds it difficult to cope with moving to a new home when, thanks to her experience in the spirit world, she turns her fear and helplessness into enchantment and empathetic interest, while also recognising the value of her name and the weight of her own past and memories. In terms of style, Spirited Away is Miyazaki’s longest and least genre-specific film. The film’s conflicts and twists do not take the form of adventurous clashes as in Nausicaä, Laputa or Mononoke. Instead, they take place against the background of the heroine’s story, as she increasingly gains composure and calm – therefore, an unforgettable highlight of the film is the captivating slow train ride through a landscape transformed into an ocean. (28/09/2016) (less) (more)