Spirited Away

Absolutely incredible film. Could be the best animated film of all time. Top 10 no doubt. It’s colourful and beautiful but at the same time apprehensive, haunting, and unpredictable. How it deals with consumerism, greed, self-identity, childhood, humility: it’s just flawless. However, Anti-capitalism and the sin of hyper consumerism doesn’t even feel like an undertone like it does in many other films with this subtext - it’s at the forefront of the story. Chihiro’s parents overeating at the beginning is what leads to the rest of the story. It then repeats that same message of not being a slave to consumerism throughout, using the ‘No Face’ spirit as a physical representation of it. Chihiro’s rejection of the gold throughout and her innocence to care much more about finding her parents and helping Haku - I believe that is part of the message it’s trying to get across. How it also links to authority, profit, business, and the labour force is really interesting. E.g, Sen being tied down to the contract to work in the bathhouse: it’s not even a subtle message. That’s something I quite liked though. It just unapologetically rejects the innate greed that comes with capitalism. The creativity to design the incredible range of characters, visually and emotionally, makes that message even better. It’s just visually eye catching right away. How Miyazaki has designed this world and interwoven a political message through it, is just a testament to how talented of a writer and director he is. I’m sure that with the social context of living in Japan, the social commentary and beautiful Japanese character designs, will resonate even more.  I watched this with my dad as a kid and really enjoyed it then but watching it now and appreciating the layers and layers of social commentary and the effort that went into designing this spiritual world - I am so glad I have rewatched it. It could be a 5/5 but even now I feel like I need to rewatch it. Definitely recommended EDIT: Letting this sit with me only makes me appreciate it more. I've changed this to a 5/5.