Spirited Away

Just dropped Cineflek's Spirited Away episode with Claira, Zac, and Lexi! I get more and more out of this on every rewatch. Miyazaki layers the themes in Spirited Away so expertly that as you continue to return to it, you find more intriguing ideas that are so thoughtfully placed. While animated movies like Shrek make veiled raunchy jokes to appeal to adults, Miyazaki doesn't ever mask any of his material, and it is therefore accessible at whatever age you choose to dig deeper into the meaning. I always caught the environmental commentary on the stink spirit, however I only more recently caught Miyazaki's commentary on consumerism. Claira even opened my eyes more to the subtext of the sex work industry and Chihiro as a child prostitute which is yet another reading of this. The other thing I got from this rewatch is how tactile the world is. Despite showing spirits and magic, through combinations of the sound design and real world influences, the entire world feels like something you know. The side of the bathhouse looks rusted by the salt air, and the raddish spirit in the elevator feels like he has real weight to him. It's impressive to do this in an animated movie given that you have to invent the physics of the world, but I can picture how nearly everything feels in the movie, from the hardwood floors to the dragons and monsters. This was a super enjoyable podcast, please let me know if you get a chance to listen to it, I love feedback!