Spirited away.

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

watching hayao miyazaki's films makes one feel like one is flipping back through the pages of one's favorite children's books. it's the art style - the big eyes, round faces and the muted pastel palette - which reminds one of old school japanese animation. in this case, "old school" doesn't mean wimpy or nostalgic or sanitized. hayao miyazaki could still kick the behinds of many modern animators anytime, and i'm pretty sure his name is still mentioned with much reverence among many animators.


and there is one word that one cannot fail to use when describing a hayao miyazaki movie: grand

it's a grandeur that few other films could accomplish; more than a grandeur of scope, but a grandeur of vision. seeing a hayao miyazaki film is like being transported in another world. george lucas or peter jackson couldn't even come close.

spirited away has all the qualities of a hayao miyazaki film: the beautiful art style, the cinematic grandeur, and the reluctant hero (in this case, the heroine) who found herself in the middle of something big, something she might not comprehend properly, but something she will bravely face anyways. in hayao miyaki's world, children show amazing courage and resilience. there are no real villains in his films, except perhaps ignorance and misunderstanding; every major character is given so much nuance, one would love them despite how scary or disagreeable they might seem initially.

it took me this long to be able to watch spirited away, but it was well worth the wait. a friend of mine was telling me miyazaki is working on yet another film. "what? i thought [spirited away] was his last film?" but, you know, i never really meant that. i'm looking forward to watching the old man's next film.

from sextonfurnival.livejournal.com.