Spirited Away

Review for the Japanese version. Miyazaki knows the girl of Chihiro well. He hasn't written exactly about her before, but he has written about characters like her for his entire life. His career has been an evolution to this film. He's done stories large and small, but Spirited Away is a transcending of the mold. The story is an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Miyazaki makes it a large epic, but does so to the pacing and effect of an art film. Meanings between characters are allowed to linger and meditate instead of be spelled out. Miyazaki also takes full advantage of excellent computer animation to marry his hand done drawing to modern effects. It makes the world radiate with visual wonder. Gene Siskel once said the best thing about Star Wars is that the corners of the screen were interesting to look at. That's a silly statement because Lucas was dealing patterns with space and the Death Star. The middle was suppose to resemble all the corners. In Spirited Away there is true diversity and depth to the images. The film is a never ending joy to the eye. Also one of the best aspects of this film is the structure. It not only keeps the story unpredictable, but keeps the situations out of easy identity and moods. Even if people do not know the history of the three act play structure in movies, they recognize it in everything. Spirited Away is closer to a symphony. Many moments are touching and the build up of a scenario, but these scenarios are molded together to keep us in awe instead of being done to formula to remind us of another film we've seen. It also makes the film do better as experience. The film I do not recommend is the American version. It takes away the mystery and satisfies the audience by answering questions in the story that shouldn't be answered.