Thanksgiving is near, and once it passes, December will quickly be upon us. Naturally, your first course of action is to start getting ready for the holidays, right? Get presents together and start decorating to get in the holiday spirit.
But, I suggest you put your plans to the side for just one moment, as something is coming this December that you don’t want to miss. And that’s the 15th anniversary showing of the award winning film, ‘Spirited Away’.
Released in 2001 in Japan, and 2002 in North America, ‘Spirited Away’ is considered one of the greatest animated films of all times by renowned director Hayao Miyazaki, who is well known for other animated masterpieces such as ‘Castle in the Sky’, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, and ‘Princess Mononoke’. Many consider ‘Spirited Away’ to be a masterpiece and it’s very hard to disagree, with it’s incredible world, characters, story and all around atmosphere.
For those who don’t know, the story centers around a ten-year old girl named Chihiro who is moving to a new town. But when she and her parents accidentally stumble into the Spirit World, Chihiro has to learn to survive in this new world so she can find a way for her and her parents to get back home.
Despite the story being pretty simple at it’s roots, what holds this movie up is the world and characters it creates. It’s a place you both love and are terrified by, like the Land of Oz, or Wonderland; there are so many things that are beautiful and terrifying in both the setting and characters. And the world is so massive and open to interpretation that the sky’s the limit to what this world could offer that the movie didn’t show. It’s enough to make anyone jealous that they couldn’t come up with something so massive and creative, like the world of Harry Potter.
All in all, it’s just a joy to watch no matter what age you are; you will almost always enjoy this movie, no matter how many times you watch it. So, now that I’m done gushing, why am I telling you this?
Well, like I said at the beginning of this article, the 15th anniversary of this ground-breaking film is coming up, and for two days, movie theaters across the nation are showing this movie in both English and Japanese; English on December 4th, and Japanese on December 5th.
Despite this movie being so amazing, not too many people talk about it, at least not as much compared to action movies or normal Disney movies (ironic, considering that Disney manufactured the English Dub of the movie). But this movie deserves to be spread far and wide, just as much as Miyazaki’s other films. There's nothing left I can say about it that hasn't already been said by both critics and movie goers. It’s a movie viewing that you will never forget or regret.
So, if you haven’t seen this film, or know someone who hasn’t, drop everything you’re doing December 4th and 5th and get to your local cinema to see this amazing masterpiece. Everyone deserves to have a chance to see it, especially on the big screen. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
