I’d like to break from decorum for just a moment and speak on a personal note. This review is one that I have been anxiously awaiting to write for a while now. For those of you who have followed me for a while, you’ll know that I normally commemorate milestone reviews with films that are significant in some way, whether to the art form as a whole, or on a more personal level. This is yet another one of them, and my most important one to date – my 1000th review. Over the years, I’ve explored cinema from every continent, treaded through multiple genres and investigated films from the silent era to the most innovative modern filmmaking practices. Yet, when it came to selecting what I’d write about for this monumental occasion, the choice was easy. Spirited Away is in many ways the film that started everything – it was the very first movie I saw in the cinema, and can be considered the work that served as the catalyst for a lifelong adoration with film. The memories of emerging from that cinema, unsettled but thoroughly mesmerized by those two hours of visual splendour and unrestrained emotional brilliance have lingered with me for the past two decades, and having seen it with a childhood friend, who has sadly departed, only further establishes this as my earliest, and perhaps even my fondest, film-related memory. Therefore, I could not pass up the opportunity to choose this very special film as the one I would use to celebrate this event. Films have the power to touch us in unexpected ways, and when you have something that holds as indelible a place in your memory as Spirited Away, its impossible to deny the oft-repeated phrase, “good films make your life better”, an idea I have always believed to be incredibly truthful.

Spirited Away is a very special film for me, but I’m certainly not alone in that sentiment, as this is a work of art that has resonated with an enormous amount of people over the years, with the global audience being captivated by Hayao Miyazaki’s magnificent approach to telling this magical story. There are few doubts that Spirited Away could make a legitimate claim to be considered the greatest animated film ever made, because not only is it beautifully made, but the underlying story is one that will enchant nearly everyone, regardless of where someone stands socially or culturally. There aren’t many films like the ones made by Studio Ghibli – each one is a carefully-curated, meticulously-detailed work of art that is made with some astonishing combination of love, dedication and soulfulness, which has allowed the studio to be seen as being facilitative of some of the greatest works of art over the past half-century. Miyazaki has always been at the forefront, with his incredible work tending to shepherd much of what the studio produces, helping in the constant defining of the world of contemporary animation, and filmmaking in general, where the insights into the human condition provided by Miyazaki and his creative cohorts, make for truly masterful cinema. Spirited Away has often been considered his masterpiece, and while he is a director whose entire career has been filled with moments of artistic brilliance, in which the majority of his films have entered into the canon of great filmmaking, it’s difficult to argue that this is the convergence of everything that the director has stood for over the course of his creative life, where the steadfast conviction in his craft, and the unwavering dedication to always being fundamentally original, regardless of how much acclaim he has received, all surface in this film’s portrayal of an artist who reached a peak of storytelling that few filmmakers have ever been able to even envision, let alone reach with the incredible ease that Miyazaki does with this extraordinary artistic achievement.

Yet, if we simply reduce Spirited Away to just a few elements that demonstrate it as a remarkable work of filmmaking, we lose the clear fact that there is a lot more to this film than what we’re presented with on a purely technical level. Spirited Away is not considered one of the greatest films of the twenty-first century because it is the perfect combination of creative elements – what makes this film such a resounding success, and one that burrows into the hearts of every viewer, is its effortless ability to be more than just a gorgeous work of art. Watching this film evokes the sensation of a warm embrace, an endearing journey into the most visceral alcoves of our minds, where Miyazaki’s filmmaking intertwines with our childlike sense of wonder to create a truly incredible experience. The very nature of this film and its effectiveness is almost impossible to describe in coherent terms – we can’t simply break down this film into a series of comments that point towards the satiation of a preordained list of criteria that go into the making of a successful film. We need to look deeper, as a way of understanding that Spirited Away operates less as an attempt to tell us a story, and more of a way of transporting us into another time and place, where even the most absurd situations are presented with the sincerity and heartfulness of the most authentic portrayals of existence. Miyazaki has not only made himself known as a phenomenal artist but as a storyteller, his work expresses a keen understanding of humanity and is perpetually demonstrating a compassion towards life that no other filmmaker has been able to capture in such an earnest form, where the atmosphere established by this film is what tends to linger with the greatest intensity.

Naturally, considering the iconic nature of this film, it’s easy to just focus on what Spirited Away means to an individual than what it actually achieves in terms of being a story. Certainly not a negative aspect of the film, as the discourse its evoked, as well as how much it has become a part of the lives of so many people, is something any film would aspire to. However, if we look at it fundamentally, we can see how, despite the depth of meaning that has come to be associated with this film, whether through analyses of its contextual background in traditional folklore, or in the innumerable interpretations of its story and message that have become commonplace in subsequent years, Miyazaki set off to make a remarkably simple film, where the story is straightforward, unfurnished and allowed to develop on the virtue of the underlying meaning that is assimilated in a gradual, but steady pace. Whether we look at Spirited Away as just a delightful fantasy film, or an allegory for some broader message about humanity, it becomes an exhilarating experience, a tale of survival and resilience that seeks a place in the heart of every viewer, and engages with us on a beautifully human level, which is a rarity for many films that endeavour to just convey a story without actually embracing the audience and allowing us into the world in which these characters supposedly reside. Miyazaki’s work, whether in his boldest epics or most small-scale dramas, always tend to be deeply focused on the most intimate recesses of the soul, and normally find themselves manifesting as extraordinary investigations into the various metaphysical journeys of these characters tasked with bringing these astounding stories to life.

Furthermore, Spirited Away is a meticulously-constructed film that bears a lot of relevance as an entry into the canon of great fantasy stories. Not only is the film a staggering achievement in terms of its creativity, it also derives a lot of its heart from how the director intertwines this incredible unique story with customs and traditions of his country, with the cultural basis of this film being just as extraordinary as the way its conveyed. Spirited Away is one of the director’s many forays into the realm of the magical, where we’re presented with a story that is enchanting without ever being implausible, certainly a sign that Miyazaki has made his priorities very clear. The film may be quite devoted to a certain vision of the folklore that inspired it, but what makes it so compelling is how the director manages to weave more resonant themes, such as that of loss, identity and family, into this otherwise far-fetched story, which creates a symbiotic relationship between the two elements. The authenticity of the tale of a young girl seeking some meaning in a world that she finds incredibly difficult to navigate (mirroring the human world, and her own insecurities in moving to a new city), complements the abstract theme of the spirit realm, where the souls of the departed roam, giving her insight into a very different world, and just changing her perspective. The film masterfully avoids any sense of deviating from its very clear intentions, and even when it feels like it is on the verge of being derailed, it promptly recalibrates, reminding us that beneath this bewildering story, there’s a great deal of meaning that all of us can relate to in some way.

The magic that comes about as the result of this incredible story is only further bolstered by the visual splendour employed in the making of this film. The concept of a strikingly beautiful film seems embedded in the work of Miyazaki, to the point where expecting anything less than the boldest, most striking images is not only misguided but contrary to every expectation one needs to have when surrendering themselves to the incredible world he evokes through his films. The director certainly does not avoid imbuing this film with an immense amount of detail, which each frame being an absolute work of art. The story of Spirited Away is enough to enthral audiences, but the beauty of the film draws us in, and allows us to immerse ourselves into this gorgeous world borne from the mind of a director who has achieved what every artist dreams of doing – he’s made a career entirely out of his imagination. Everything that we can say about Studio Ghibli, and Miyazaki’s work as a whole, comes from the fact that he had the tenacity to realize his own visions as works of unimpeachable art, which is precisely why these are not only some of the most dreamlike films ever made but also embedded with a sense of something far more personal. Regardless of the language one chooses to watch this film is, Spirited Away engrosses you in this stunning world, where the amount of detail and intricacy present in every moment is unprecedented, and represented a watershed moment for animation – perhaps not revolutionary in terms of the technology (especially as this film emerged right at the peak of the rise of computer-generated animation), but still so incredibly unique, Spirited Away is the epitome of a labour of love, in both the story it tells and the stylistic realization of it.

Spirited Away, like the director’s other films, feels like it was put together with nothing but the tender love of a filmmaker who wanted to forge a connection between the viewer and his ideas, as well as uniting us through common thematic threads that overcome any cultural or geographic boundaries, touching all of us and conveying the innumerable meaningful messages that are present in his work. On a personal note, rewatching Spirited Away was a deeply profound experience – the images are indelible, and brought back so many memories of that transcendent moment in which I finally found what the impact of a beautiful story told with conviction and dedication truly can be. It’s a gorgeous film and one in which so much meaning is harboured – far more than just a mystical fantasy film, it’s a steadfast celebration of the human condition, told from the perspective of a young girl navigating the perils of the world, and finding the only way to overcome these challenges is through bravery and believing in your own abilities. There’s a soulful rebelliousness, and an immensely poetic sense of resilience, in how Spirited Away tells its story. It is an astonishingly gorgeous film about individuality, identity and the importance of inner-strength, and when combined with the detailed splendour infused into this film by a director who has established himself as both a remarkable animator and a brilliant storyteller, Spirited Away is simply a masterpiece. It finds its way into the hearts of every viewer, changing our perception of the world and making us realize the power of imagination. This is truly a very special film, and there was no better decision than to celebrate my cinematic journey with the very film that started it.