Spirited Away: A bridge of the Fantastic and Realistic
Introduction
I choose Reider’s “Spirited Away: Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols” as my article because of my interest in the film. I first saw Spirited Away back in 2002, and, since then, I have come to recognize and think about the symbolism and storyline deeper. My database search began by searching for animation; however, animation is too broad of a topic to search through so I narrowed it down to “Studio Ghibli,” which has been one of my artistic inspirations for years. I stumbled on the article pertaining to Spirited Away specifically by chance after narrowing the formats of the articles to scholarly journals in English. I picked this article in particular because
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According to Tzvetan Todorov’s definition of the fantastic: the hesitation experienced by someone who only knows the laws of reality, confronting an otherworldly event, Spirited Away fits the definition due to the uncertainty felt by both the Chihiro and the audience. Thrown into the realm of the spirits, Chihiro’s every action could lead to something terrible happening to her, such as the constant threat to be turned into a pig herself. Not only does Spirited Away fit well with Todorov’s definition of the fantastic but Susan Napier definition as well: fantasy being a conscious removal from accepted reality. This conforms to pop culture understanding that fantasy is an escape from …show more content…
As can be guessed by his name, No Face wears a Noh mask, in which makes him unreadable; it doesn’t help that he doesn’t talk much until he seems to be driven crazy by the bathhouse. Noh masks have appeared in a numerous Japanese animations, such as InuYasha, and usually carry a negative connotation as they seemed to be cursed. No Face does not correlate with characters in Japanese tales, unlike most characters in Spirited Away, but he does relate to tatarigami, cursed spirit, in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1997). He could have easily become an antagonistic character, but due to Chihiro’s intervention, he returns from his crazy state and finds his place, away from the bathhouse of course.
Spirited Away’s story shows that folk beliefs and customs continue to thrive within the modern, technological world. Miyazaki helps children understand the roots of their culture and Japanese tradition. Kamikushi, rather than held in a negative light, can be seen as a period of rest from the world for young people who are having trouble and afterwards, they are ready to start a new life. These ideals bridge the realistic world and that of the fantastic.
No Face is living in an unfortunate situation where he needs to constantly run away from people’s hostility towards him. People who encounter this central character “wish him to fall” and for “him to be gone.” Only but three other characters show empathy and compassion towards No Face—Padre Lou, the Canadian doctor and the owner of the beauty shop. Even his own family members are portrayed as distant or negligent to No Face. It also seems like he is disowned by his parents. In No Face, Junot Diaz, explores the effects on families and particularly boys and young men when absent fathers and therefore a lack of suitable role models, poverty and the potential for an apparent better life in the US, pervade their very existence. He copes with his lack of a relationship with his father by, not only lying about his whereabouts, pretending that he is in the US, but by creating a superhero in his imagination where he can right wrongs and is always "fighting evil." Not only was he harassed verbally, but he was also confronted by a group of boys who wanted to physically hurt him and “turn him into a girl.” He responded to these environments in a way that shows he is beyond fear and revenge. Instead of cursing or fighting back, he genuinely believed in a strength that lies within him. When No Face was being ambushed by a group of bullies, He proclaimed “STRENGTH” while the “fat boy” was
Gangs of New York mostly took place in the streets of Five Points and Paradise Square. Five Points was named for the points created by the intersections of Park, Worth and Baxter Streets. By the mid-1800s, Five Points was known as New York City’s most notorious slum neighborhood. It was home to an infamous, overcrowded tenement., which throughout the movie is portrayed as a very dangerous place. This is said to be true, Five Points is alleged to have sustained the highest murder rate of any slum in the world. According to an old New York urban legend, “the Old Brewery, an overcrowded tenement on Cross Street housing 1,000 poor, is said to have had a murder a night for 15 years, until its demolition.” Five Points was also portrayed as a very
The changes that the directors made to “The Outsiders” movie were eye opening to fans of the novel, The Outsiders. One of the differences between the two is the fact that Dally’s character and death was not the same as described in the novel. Another difference between the two would be the character’s description and Bob’s roll on drowning Ponyboy. There are some similarities such as the outcome of the church’s fire and the fate of the characters. The film adaption of The Outsiders, share many key points and scenes however, because the film was condensed there are many gaping holes in the plotline.
Hayao Miyazaki’s film, Spirited Away, depicts the journey of a young girl, Chihiro, into the spirited world and the struggle to escape back into the real world with her parents. Chihiro is the protagonist in Spirited Away. She is a ten year old girl moving to a new house in new town. While travelling to the new house her parents take a wrong shortcut which ends up in front of a tunnel. After entering into tunnel they found it was the entrance to abandoned theme park which was closed a long time ago because of economy. In the course of the time she matures and finds the things she truly values. Spirited away is a animated movie by a japanese anime studio, which was made in 2001. Life is race there
Hayao Miyazaki’s film, Spirited Away, portrays the journey of a young girl, Chihiro, into the spirit world, the loss of her identity, and the struggle to save her parents and return home. The story of a girl who finds herself in a world of spirits and dangers yet comes of age in unexpected ways. Chihiro’s journey is nothing less than a coming of age story. A journey that leads to her transition into adulthood. Chihiro’s maturation is an obvious change in this film. Prior to her experience in the spirit world, Chihiro behaves as a stubborn child unwilling to accept and also fearful of change. She describes her first bouquet as depressing because she received it as a goodbye gift and when reminded of the rose her father gave her on her birthday she delivers a snide response showing just how ungrateful she can be. It’s quite funny that that same ungrateful child is the
Beloved is a movie full of pain, love, and triumph. This film is constructed and created from the works of Toni Morrison’s novel. Beloved can be considered a ghost tale based on how the main character Beloved magically appears and disappears with no warning signs. The movie takes place in the summer of 1865 in Ohio at 124 Bluestone Road in a little white house on a plate of land.
“I am a man of constant sorrow, I’ve seen trouble all my days.” This main line sung by
1980. Warner Bros. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Music by Wendy Carlos and Rcachel Elkind. Cinematography by John Alcott. Editing by Ray Lovejoy. With Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd.
Lee Daniel’s Precious is a movie centered around Precious Jones, a 16-year-old overweight black girl living in Harlem, New York. The movie begins when she is in public school pregnant with her second child by her father. Because Precious is pregnant, the principle recommends an alternative school for her. At home, Precious is a servant to her mother, Mary, who is physically, emotionally, verbally, and sexually abusing her. Mary constantly tells Precious that she is not good enough and that no one will ever want her. At times of distress, Precious tends to dissociate and fantasize about another life where she is a blonde white girl. She wants to be famous and loved by all. Precious arrives at the alternative school hardly knowing how to read or write. She gets placed in a class of girls with a dedicated teacher, Ms. Rain. Ms. Rain asks each student to write in a journal every day, and she will write back to their letters. This is the first time in the movie when Precious feels very
“Whenever someone hears the word ‘anime’ they immediately think of Japanese animation or in the very least Asian cartoons. Really, though the word ‘anime’ is derived form the word ‘animation’. And the definition of animation is the making of movies by filming a sequence of slightly varying drawings or models so that they appear to move and change when the sequence is shown.” (par. 1)
The story begins in the ordinary world with Chihiro and her family moving to a new home. Chihiro is intimidated by the prospects of starting her life anew. Resulting in her being a whiny, selfish and fearful little girl. All of this changes when her and her parents visit an abandoned theme park and accidentally cross into the spirit world. This is where she meets Haku, outside of a bath house. The young boy informs her of their entry into the spirit world and tries to get her back to her world. But it is too late, in their gross ignorance her parents have already eaten from a feast intended for the spirits and they are turned into pigs as punishment. 10-year-old Chihiro now finds herself left alone in the spirit world. This is what Joseph Campbell calls “the call to adventure”. She’s been transported out of the ordinary world and is now responsible for saving her parents in this new and strange world. Chihiro is frightene...
Spirited Away, titled Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi in Japan, follows a young girl named Chihiro on an adventurous, yet threatening journey into a magical realm after her parents are turned into pigs. She forms relationships with people that will help her find her way back home such as Haku, Zeniba, and Mr. Kamaji. She also encounters those like Yubaba who try to make her time in the realm of spirits difficult. Spirited Away quickly became Japan’s highest grossing film of all time. It received many great reviews in every aspect of filmmaking. It won several awards, including A Golden Bear in 2002 at the Berlin International Film Festival, and an Academy Award in 2003 for Best Animated Film. Hayao Miyazaki, the film’s writer and director, strongly encourages Japanese culture and its survival. He believes that “surrounded by high technology and its flimsy devices, children are more and more losing their roots”(Reider). Hayao Miyazaki’s aim is to present not only an animated motion picture, but a work of art. He does so by using certain animation and film techniques, applying Japanese culture, and creating in depth characters, all of which highlight key symbols in the film.
Love is a word that’s been both miss-used and over-used all at once. Romantic movies change our definition of and have a big impact on this definition greatly. There have been many movies and novels made over love, but never like this. “The Notebook” is a love story about unconditional love that two people have for each other. This emotionally, heart touching story will have your eyes blood-shot and burning from you not wanting to blink your eyes. This tremendously wonderful love story will have you not wanting to even miss a millisecond of this heart throbbing film. With many plot twists and many scenes that will have you falling off of your seat and you not having any nails by the end of the movie, this is the movie for you. This emotionally rich film is full of action, laughter, and romance, which is the perfect trio combination. This movie shows us how love can bind us together forever. This film went above and
Choo, K. (2009). VISUAL EVOLUTION ACROSS THE PACIFIC: THE INFLUENCE OF ANIME AND VIDEO GAMES ON US FILM MEDIA. Post Script, 28(2), 28-37.
Spirited away is composed of three main genres, which makes it easier to market to various audiences. Firstly, it is an adventure fi...