Spirited Away

This film has only gotten deeper watching it over and over – especially in this class. Watching Miyazaki films all in a row as we are doing seems to seriously magnify his intentions.

The parents are so blind to their approach to life, their daughter’s feelings, and even their own bodies. The parents from the beginning don’t listen to Chihiro when she’s sad. They don’t know the house they are moving into. It’s pretty unclear why they are moving at all, but that’s the point! Everything is so anonymous and dead in the human world that Miyazaki is portraying. There is no character in the paved roads and day jobs that is so prevalent in the spirit world that Chihiro eventually gets sucked into.

I think it is important that there are two river gods in the film. They seem to come to the bath house because they have been damaged by the humans. There is the god that comes and seems like a stinky sludge god at first because he has been so polluted by humans, presumably. He is cleansed and renewed thanks to Chihiro and she gets a ball that is (also seemingly) not for humans. This ball is then used to revive the other river god! What? I don't quite get the connection, but ok. It seems acceptable and like I don't really need to question it while the film is showing this to me, but in taking a step back it is confusing.

Anyway, back to the river gods. Haku is also there because he is a wayward spirit in need; his river has been dammed up and he needs somewhere to go and gets lost as a human/shapeshifter person who wants to learn magic, to be powerful. Perhaps this is Miyazaki talking about the anger that the natural world would feel if it had a brain and emotions. Hence it would want power to fight back.

I don't have much more to say that we didn't cover in class.