Review of Spirited Away

Review(rəˈvyo͞o) of Spirited(ˈspiridəd) Away

By Roger(ˈräjər) Ebert(ē)

Viewing Hiyao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” for the third time, I was struck(strək) by a quality between generosity(ˌjenəˈräsədē) and love. On earlier(ˈərlē) viewings I was caught up by the boundless imagination of the story. This time I began to focus on the elements in the picture that didn’t need to be there. Animation(ˌanəˈmāSHən) is a painstaking(ˈpānzˌtākiNG,ˈpānˌstākiNG) process, and there is a tendency(ˈtendənsē) to simplify its visual(ˈviZHo͞oəl) elements. Miyazaki, in contrast(ˈkänˌtrast), offers complexity(kəmˈpleksədē). His backgrounds are rich in detail(dəˈtāld, ˈdēˌtāld), his canvas(ˈkanvəs) embraces(emˈbrās) space liberally(ˈlib(ə)rəlē), and it is all drawn(drôn) with meticulous(məˈtikyələs) attention(əˈtenCHən). We may not pay much conscious(ˈkänCHəs) attention to the corners(ˈkôrnər) of the frame(frām), but we know they are there, and they reinforce(ˌrē-inˈfôrs) the remarkable(rəˈmärkəb(ə)l) precision(prəˈsiZHən) of his fantasy(ˈfan(t)əsē) worlds.

“Spirited Away” is surely one of the finest of all animated(ˈanəˌmādəd) films, and it has its foundation in the traditional(trəˈdiSH(ə)n(ə)l) bedrock(ˈbedˌräk) of animation, which is frame-by-frame drawing. Miyazaki began his career(kəˈri(ə)r) in that style, but he is a realist(ˈrēəlist) and has permitted(pərˈmit) the use of computers for some of the busywork. But he personally draws thousands of frames by hand. “We take handmade cell(sel) animation and digitize(ˈdijəˌtīz) it in order to enrich the visual(ˈviZHo͞oəl) look,” he told me in 2002, “but everything starts with the human hand drawing.”

Consider a scene(sēn) in “Spirited Away” where his young heroine(ˈherōən) stands on a bridge leading away from the magical(ˈmajək(ə)l) bathhouse(ˈbaTHˌhous) in which much of the movie(ˈmo͞ovē) is set. The central action and necessary characters supply all that is actually needed, but watching from the windows and balconies(ˈbalkənē) of the bathhouse are many of its occupants(ˈäkyəpənt). It would be easier to suggest them as vaguely(ˈvāglē) moving presences(ˈprezəns), but Miyazaki takes care to include many figures(ˈfigyər) we recognize(ˈrekigˌnīz,ˈrekə(g)ˌnīz). All of them are in motion. And it isn’t the repetitive(rəˈpedədiv) motion of much animation, in which the only idea is simply to show a figure moving. It is realistic(ˌrēəˈlistik), changing, detailed motion.

Most people watching the movie will simply read those areas(ˈe(ə)rēə) of the screen as “movement.” But if we happen to look, things are really happening there. That’s what I mean by generosity(ˌjenəˈräsədē) and love. Miyazaki and his colleagues care enough to lavish(ˈlaviSH) as much energy(ˈenərjē) on the less significant parts of the frame. Notice how much of the bathhouse you can see. It would have been quicker and easier to show just a bridge and a doorway. But Miyazaki gives his bathhouse his complexity of a real place, which possesses(pəˈzes) attributes whether or not the immediate(iˈmēdēət) story requires them.

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https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-spirited-away-2002