Club Ghibli #1 - Spirited Away (2001)

Dried lizards out of 10?

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Diddy can you confirm if the whole bit about her name being "taken away" from her and having to work until she pays her off has a deeper meaning or something lost in translation in the original? I read as much once a million years ago but not sure if I understood it properly.

Like the kanjis that the witch rips from the paper when she agreed to the contract mean something else beyond her name or something like that.
 
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By the way for any Miyazaki fans who may want to learn more about him there are two books out there called Starting Point and Turning Point which compile articles, scribblings and interviews with Miyazaki, vaguely threaded into a timeline of his films but encompassing so much more. He muses on history, religion, world politics, philosophy, education, ecology... He is not only a learned man but also a bright, progressive mind and it's such a JOY to read his thoughts. Some of the analysis of his own films in the book are amazing and there are so many things I wouldn't have got had he not pointed them out.
 
OK I finished it - I wasn't in the right mood yesterday but I got totally absorbed in it. I must have seen this film 10 times at least over the last 17 years(!) since I first saw it. That does lessen the impact of the fantasy a little bit, but it's still jam-packed full of detail and gorgeous rich backdrops.

I know everyone goes on about the train sequence being the centre of the universe, and it is lovely, but for me I think the bath sequence with the Skidd spirit is more evocative - Those gorgeous pine backdrops, you can just feel the steam from the herbal water. And that Pimple Popper release when they get all the junk out is quite satisfying.

If I had to criticise it at all, I'd say the story does get a little wobbly, but there's enough character work and stuff to look at to sort of distract from it. Mind you, the reason I like Ghibli movies so much is that they don't beat you over the head with the message like Western Movies do. I mean compare it to something like Inside Out - a good film in itself, but it's just yelling at my face "FEELINGS ARE IMPORTANT, EVEN BAD ONES".

I'd say I never QUITE got into Chihiro and Haku as the lead characters when the supporting cast are so interesting, but I came around to Chihiro in the end.

Anyway, iconic!


studio ghibli GIF
Hayao Miyazaki Ghibli GIF by Spirited Away
 
I'm probably not going to get to watch this until my flights at the weekend, but it is downloaded on my tablet and ready to go :o
 
Diddy can you confirm if the whole bit about her name being "taken away" from her and having to work until she pays her off has a deeper meaning or something lost in translation in the original? I read as much once a million years ago but not sure if I understood it properly.

Like the kanjis that the witch rips from the paper when she agreed to the contract mean something else beyond her name or something like that.

I couldn't find anything specifically about this, by the way. But if I had to pin a central theme to the film it would be about the importance of keeping your identity. Her parents had theirs taken because of their greed, the other workers at the bathhouse, who presumably had their names taken too were selfish, grasping arseholes for the most part. Having your identity decided by those with more power leaves them to define you and control you - it's not hard to see how there are analogies for that in the real world.

Yubaba totally lost control of the situation by the end, Chihiro never forgot her name, so she was able to act with her own agency for the duration, and Haku regained his full power when he remembered his.

I listened to an interview on that Ghibliotheque podcast with a trans movie critic, who said there were parts that really stood out for them because it spoke to their transness, which I'd naturally never considered. I suppose that's the benefit of a story like this, it's flexible enough for you to get what you want from it, even if it's something totally different to the person sitting next to you.
 
I'm probably not going to get to watch this until my flights at the weekend, but it is downloaded on my tablet and ready to go :o

No rush - and there's not schedule to follow. But rather than herding cats, I'd like to ask @Christian to nominate his next pick by the end of Saturday (don't need to say now, and I'm happy to write the thread, you can do it here or by PM), and I guess I'll start a thread on Sunday
 
I couldn't find anything specifically about this, by the way. But if I had to pin a central theme to the film it would be about the importance of keeping your identity. Her parents had theirs taken because of their greed, the other workers at the bathhouse, who presumably had their names taken too were selfish, grasping arseholes for the most part. Having your identity decided by those with more power leaves them to define you and control you - it's not hard to see how there are analogies for that in the real world.

Yubaba totally lost control of the situation by the end, Chihiro never forgot her name, so she was able to act with her own agency for the duration, and Haku regained his full power when he remembered his.

I listened to an interview on that Ghibliotheque podcast with a trans movie critic, who said there were parts that really stood out for them because it spoke to their transness, which I'd naturally never considered. I suppose that's the benefit of a story like this, it's flexible enough for you to get what you want from it, even if it's something totally different to the person sitting next to you.

I guess that's kind of what I thought the whole "taking your name away" meant. Although from what I read about this film, Miyazaki considers Chihiro a lazy, bit of a bum character at the start of the film, she's apathetic and uninterested about everything and it's only when she engages that she finds her true worth and gets her name back from Yubaba. Much like Kiki, it's a COMING OF AGE story for 10 year old girls (so perfect for me).
 
I guess that's kind of what I thought the whole "taking your name away" meant. Although from what I read about this film, Miyazaki considers Chihiro a lazy, bit of a bum character at the start of the film, she's apathetic and uninterested about everything and it's only when she engages that she finds her true worth and gets her name back from Yubaba. Much like Kiki, it's a COMING OF AGE story for 10 year old girls (so perfect for me).

It’s interesting you think of Kiki (the story) - and I’m being careful not to get ahead of ourselves - but it’s interesting because Kiki starts off the total opposite of Chihiro! Anyway, all in good time, and I know what you mean
 
It’s interesting you think of Kiki (the story) - and I’m being careful not to get ahead of ourselves - but it’s interesting because Kiki starts off the total opposite of Chihiro! Anyway, all in good time, and I know what you mean
Maybe Kiki should be next in that case! It's lighter and slighter but hard to dislike. Totoro would be a decent alternative but I'm not mad keen on that one myself, though I know it is beloved. Is it too soon for a deeper cut?
 
Maybe Kiki should be next in that case! It's lighter and slighter but hard to dislike. Totoro would be a decent alternative but I'm not mad keen on that one myself, though I know it is beloved. Is it too soon for a deeper cut?

Well I’ll just turn into a control freak if you ask me :D we can confer on DM if you like
 
Not that I'll be watching since I've watched these films approximately 220395804 times before but surely you want to go BIG SWASHBUCKLING ADVENTURE now as opposed to another coming of age - Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Mononoke?
 
Not that I'll be watching since I've watched these films approximately 220395804 times before but surely you want to go BIG SWASHBUCKLING ADVENTURE now as opposed to another coming of age - Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Mononoke?

Oh watch with us, beb! I wanted to do a big rewatch after my last one fizzled out for no particular reason.

I don’t want to sway the jury but OMG to those first two in particular
 
I was just trolling :D but the point is that there are many "cinema masterpieces" that the world recognises as such and Nausicaa should be right up there, but isn't. It's an incredible achievement of a film.
 
Diddy can you confirm if the whole bit about her name being "taken away" from her and having to work until she pays her off has a deeper meaning or something lost in translation in the original? I read as much once a million years ago but not sure if I understood it properly.

Like the kanjis that the witch rips from the paper when she agreed to the contract mean something else beyond her name or something like that.

I think the whole name/contract thing is about loss of individuality. quite a universal theme. I've done some Japanese oogling and there doesn't seem to be anything folkloristic about it anyway

fun fact: Chihiro writes one of the kanjis in her surname incorrectly which could be why she - despite Yubaba's contract - retains some agency that allows her to eventually become free again
 
Oh what the heck, how about an old-fashioned tag poke? Or a soft grope at least, just wondering how it's all going

@Gangsta Nancy Lam @jivafox @Haiku @ZenGiraffe @Lucille @KindaCool @RaspberrySwirl @RJN @Beverley @jyxz

and @big ron I know you didn't really take to it, but I'm curious to know your feelings!

I don't know why, but it just didn't engage with me like some of the others. I'd watched maybe half a dozen other Ghibli films before this, and was aware that many people billed this as 'the one' so maybe my expectations were quite high, but the story just didn't captivate me. I think the narrative is a bit of a mess, and I didn't really feel much for any of the central characters.
 
I think the whole name/contract thing is about loss of individuality. quite a universal theme. I've done some Japanese oogling and there doesn't seem to be anything folkloristic about it anyway

fun fact: Chihiro writes one of the kanjis in her surname incorrectly which could be why she - despite Yubaba's contract - retains some agency that allows her to eventually become free again

Maybe that's what I read! I think the point I remembered was that there was something about what they write that isn't obvious to non-Japanese readers.
 
I don't know why, but it just didn't engage with me like some of the others. I'd watched maybe half a dozen other Ghibli films before this, and was aware that many people billed this as 'the one' so maybe my expectations were quite high, but the story just didn't captivate me. I think the narrative is a bit of a mess, and I didn't really feel much for any of the central characters.

I can imagine it feeling like that. In fact I feel a bit like that about the other flagship films like Totoro and Mononoke to some extent. I mean I still like them, but people are clearly seeing something artistically in them that’s lost on me, and I have to settle for a mostly face value viewing of them.

Now I’m curious which ones you’ve seen/liked :D
 
Yubaba would never get me then, I’m shit at writing kanji. I can’t even write my phone number without checking
 
I can imagine it feeling like that. In fact I feel a bit like that about the other flagship films like Totoro and Mononoke to some extent. I mean I still like them, but people are clearly seeing something artistically in them that’s lost on me, and I have to settle for a mostly face value viewing of them.

Now I’m curious which ones you’ve seen/liked :D

Ponyo really got me, I fucking loved that film. Castle in the Sky is probably my second favourite.
 
OK well not QUITE the glorious premiere I hoped for, but we made it to 2 pages :eyes:
Anyway I said there was no deadline for this so it's not over or anything, just bumping it because a new chapter is IMMINENT! :disco:
 
I saw this a while back and the thread has made me want to give it another whirl. I saw it in the midst of another Ghibli release when the hype was strong, can’t remember which one, so it could have ended up a disappointment, but it wasn’t at all. Definitely one of the most original and creative animation features I’ve ever seen.

I can’t remember now though if I’ve seen Howl’s Moving Castle or not. I think I have but don’t recall the plot at all. Beyond that I’m a novice.
 

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