![]() He instead focuses on Chihiro’s face, which for the first time in the film is set with a sense of determination. Are these the spirits of the dead, traveling to a newfound home in the afterlife to reunite with their loved ones? Or are they weary, lost travelers, doomed to years of traveling with no set destination? Miyazaki knows he can’t offer any answers. In a particularly haunting moment, the train pulls away from a station and Miyazaki focuses on the spirit of a solitary young girl, probably Chihiro’s own age, watching it depart. A deep sense of sadness hangs heavy in the air, Chihiro watching wordlessly as her mysterious fellow passengers disembark for places unknown. ![]() There is no dialogue, only the sounds of Joe Hisaishi’s haunting score, the sweeping sounds of the ocean, and the relentless chugging of the train’s engine. She boards a train, full of featureless spirits, that takes her across endless expanses of flooded villages and ghostly cities. Near the conclusion of the film, the film’s protagonist Chihiro/Sen takes a trip to the countryside of the spirit realm in a scene that stands out as some of the emotionally striking filmmaking ever committed to celluloid. ![]() While the film as a whole is a stirring pursuit of that idea, there’s one scene that alone unlocks the secret to Spirited Away-and perhaps Miyazaki’s entire filmography. No film captures that more than Spirited Away, his 2001 magnum opus that uses a young girl’s existential journey through a land of spirits as an examination of finding yourself in your youth. It’s not just because he primarily makes films for children-his affection for the imagination and innocence of our childhoods informs his entire career, every one of his films reflecting upon the joy that stems from the freedom of being young and the sadness that comes with losing that. Hayao Miyazaki has always been fascinated with the idea of youth.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |