Spirited Away

There’s no film in Hayao Miyazaki’s ouvre that’s more uncanny than Spirited Away. The protagonist is ten-year-old Chichiro. She tries to save her parents who’ve turned into pigs after they’ve succumbed to unrestrained gluttony. She must work hard to gain their freedom in a bathhouse for spirits and gods. The Japanese director’s eighth feature-length animation is a delightful yet disturbing fairy tale, filled to the brim with his typical obsessions. The animated land, which sparkles with a myriad of colours, is a reference to Japanese amusement parks which were built during the prosperity of the 1980s. The funfair is a symbolic place where Shinto tradition meets middle-class consumerism. The magical permeation of the two worlds happens in accordance with Miyazaki’s method which involves constructing the plot by jumping from association to association. Spirited Away is one of the greatest achievements in the history of animation and the director’s only film to date to receive an Oscar.

Igor Kierkosz

Hayao Miyazaki (b. 1941) is a Japanese director, animator and manga artist. Shortly after completing his studies in Economics and Political Science at Gakushuin University, he was employed as an animator. That was also when he met Isao Takahata, with whom he founded Studio Ghibli in 1985. His work is recognized and acclaimed all around the world, as evidenced by the Oscar for his animated film Spirited Away (2001).