I watched it again and while it's a great film it felt a little overlong at times. The bit with the sister at the end in particular felt a bit tacked on for example. Anyone else agree?
shareNope, there's nothing I could add or remove from this film to improve it. It's pretty much perfect as is.
"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"
Can't say it is. Just rewatched in the theater for the 15th Anniversary re-release, and it was just as amazing as always. I don't feel the length.
Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead.
I watched it again and while it's a great film it felt a little overlong at times. The bit with the sister at the end in particular felt a bit tacked on for example. Anyone else agree?
That sounds to me like you're both buying into the Disneyfied version, complete with Moral Lesson - "A Spoilt Girl Learns To Grow Up".
The Japanese original is more like - A Visit to the World of the Eight Million Gods - 'kamikakushi' means 'hidden by the gods'. All the things that happen to Chihiro, and all that she does in this strange world, are part of the story.
All the things that happen to Chihiro, and all that she does in this strange world, are part of the story.
The drama is Chihiro relying on herself in a strange new world to survive.
Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead.
The drama is Chihiro relying on herself in a strange new world to survive.
Haku tells her if she doesn't eat, she'll fade away. She's also in danger of being turned into a piglet if she's not working. Her survival was very much at stake.
shareHaku tells her if she doesn't eat, she'll fade away.
She's also in danger of being turned into a piglet if she's not working.
Yes, yes - but you're all still looking for a Disney-type, or maybe I should just say Western-type, adventure story. Problem situation, exciting developments, hero or heroine saves the day, happy ending. This is something quite different.
shareYes, yes - but you're all still looking for a Disney-type, or maybe I should just say Western-type, adventure story.
Fair enough - but then perhaps if you want a classic drama structure you're watching the wrong type of film here. I'm just exploring the difference between Japanese and Western storytelling style. Have you seen much naturalistic Japanese film - things like Still Walking or Tokyo Story? There isn't usually a set-up, a crisis, a denouement, The End - we just witness some life happening. In a realistic story this is taking place in Tokyo or Kanagawa or somewhere; in the anime it's happening in the world of the eight million gods.
shareIn a realistic story this is taking place in Tokyo or Kanagawa or somewhere; in the anime it's happening in the world of the eight million gods.
Yes, I know what you mean - there's a thread on here with people saying that they prefer Princess Mononoke to Spirited Away, and I suggest there that it's because it has a more conventional plot structure, with a quest, perils to overcome, a brave hero and a baddie you can hate (although in some ways she is shown quite sympathetically).
It's a point, certainly. I think in Sen to Chihiro Miyazaki was less interested in the linear story and more in exploring the strange world of the kami. His films vary quite a lot in style, although there are some common themes, aren't there? It's that dream-like randomness that I enjoy in this one.
Yes, I know what you mean - there's a thread on here with people saying that they prefer Princess Mononoke to Spirited Away, and I suggest there that it's because it has a more conventional plot structure, with a quest, perils to overcome, a brave hero and a baddie you can hate (although in some ways she is shown quite sympathetically).
I think in Sen to Chihiro Miyazaki was less interested in the linear story and more in exploring the strange world of the kami. His films vary quite a lot in style, although there are some common themes, aren't there? It's that dream-like randomness that I enjoy in this one.
Which happens quickly right at the start of the film and is never brought up again. It's not a recurring threat.
That is the problem that lasts till the end, and Chihiro takes no action to solve it.
Because she gets a job and works to eat. But if she doesn't work, it's fading away or piglet time for her. Yubba explicitly threatens her with this.
Escape may be the goal, but it is not the plot. The plot is a little girl finding strength and courage in herself to survive a world full of spirits.
The root problem is that she's trapped in the bathhouse.
If it's not the plot then it's not the goal either.
A plot is made up primarily of characters taking action.
Chihiro tells her parents that she'll save them but she did literally nothing to that end, either before or after saying it.
Bingo. And working there is what keeps her alive. As long as she keeps up her chores, she'll live.
Take a 2001: A Space Odessy. The goal of the astronauts was to investigate the monolith. But that wasn't the plot. The plot was their battle against a malfunctioning AI.
Also not necessarily. My Dinner with Andre is a great example. The plot is two old friends having dinner. No action taken by either.
Because that's not what the movie was about. It was about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Not Alice freeing her parents.
While you may not agree with separating character and plot, it's a perfectly valid way of discussing fiction. Especially since filmmakers/writers themselves do it in their works.
As I said: Her root problem is surviving the spirit world. Working in the bathhouse is part of that.
Why were the astronauts on their way to Jupiter? They were on their way to explore and investigate. That was their goal. The plot was Hal's malfunction. After all, Bowman's story kept going even after the plot of Hal's malfunction was over.
From a narrative standpoint overcoming Hal is David's goal.
It could have just been written so that she gets separated from them in the "abandoned amusement park" and ends up in the Spirit World on her own.
I used to think of them separately but more and more I've come across arguments from professional writers to the effect that doing so makes no sense when you're constructing a dramatic narrative.
Why were the astronauts on their way to Jupiter?
Exactly. From a narrative standpoint, surviving the spirit world is Chihiro's goal. She can't help her parents without doing that first.
That's exactly what happened. All that was different were the circumstances. She's on her own. She has to learn to become strong and face things that would've cowered her before.
If not that, then Boyhood. What's the plot? Just the life of a kid as he grows up and the various situations he faces. The Breakfast Club. Forrest Gump. Lost in Translation. Not to mention other anime such as The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Kiki's Delivery Service, etc.
It never goes into detail about what they're actually doing because that's not the purpose of the "Jupiter Mission 18 Months Later" section of the film.
She figures out how to survive there very early in the film. That's accomplished.
It's not the same.
but a lot of them are art house films that don't pretend to have a plot, and are more focused on creating a mood.
As I mentioned, it's the Alice in Wonderland trope. We are watching a girl's encounters in a strange land.
Actually, it is. The point being that she is separated from her parents.
Not at all. In fact, I used mainstream releases to avoid that comparison. Those movies aren't Russian Ark, Eraserhead, Anti-Christ, or even Mulholland Drive.
They follow the same traditional three-act story structure as Spirited Away, complete with exposition, rising action, climax, and denouement. They aren't avant-garde or subversive. They are the same conventional narrative structure. A dramatic, narrative structure need not involve chasing some MacGuffin as proven by those hit movies.
She's just chasing the white rabbit. SA does establish high stakes but then pushes them to the side. That's the difference.
Anti-Christ is more conventionally structured than 5 cm per second to me.
What is the purpose of having Chihro's parents get turned into pigs and trapped along with her?
"I watched it again and while it's a great film it felt a little overlong at times. The bit with the sister at the end in particular felt a bit tacked on for example. Anyone else agree?"
It didn't feel like too long. But yes, the pace drops considerably as soon as they get on the train, and it seems intentionally.
No Face gets acceptance without bartering about it, and all the pieces fall into place.
Yes I totally agree. I just finished watching the film for the first time a few minutes ago and I was extremely disappointed. I'm a huge animation fan and I've been really excited to see this one. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love art house and experimental films but the plot in Spirited Away just rambled excessively. It went no where exciting and there were several scenes that didn't need to be in the film. Also the stakes were never that high or maybe it's because I simply didn't care for the characters. The main issue at hand was finding here parents but after a while it almost seems like they weren't that important anymore. The film is just an overrated gorgeously animated mess.
shareAlso the stakes were never that high