Hayao Miyazaki
La Città Incantata

On par with the beauty of "Howl's Moving Castle," the Oscar-winning film Spirited Away certainly stands out.

I hope everyone has seen it because it's thanks to the Oscar that it reached us; otherwise, I'm not sure if it would have ever made it to Italy, but these are the usual discussions. This film has it all; nothing is missing. It's the film you want to see and expect to love even before watching it.

The film is set in this sort of spa city, which is nothing short of fabulous. Notably, when the film is set at night and it's raining, it exudes an atmosphere never before seen in a Studio Ghibli film.

The film begins when Chihiro and her family start moving. Her parents see this relocation as an adventure, but leaving behind friends, school, and the old house... considering that Chihiro is a small and spoiled child, forced to leave everything behind.

Chihiro's transformation is not just one of growth but also of change, because from a lazy girl, she becomes strong and tenacious, truly to save her parents—it’s not something everyone would do.

The parents abandon their daughter to gorge themselves, and this reckless act turns them into pigs, which gorge disgustingly. The scene is not only appalling but also stupid or ignorant, as in Japan, the pig represents ignorance, if I'm not mistaken.

From this event, the real story begins. Little Chihiro will have to work in this hot spring by force, in hopes of saving her parents, because if she doesn’t act in time, they will be fattened and eventually killed to be eaten.

Chihiro's task is to wash them; it seems easy, but when a dirty, stinking monster appears, demanding to be washed, "The Stink Spirit," no one finds the courage because of the strong stench, understandably.

Only Chihiro finds the courage to clean it (though let's say she was somewhat forced to), and beneath the grime of this monster, there are debris, bike parts, dishwasher fragments, pieces of appliances, and metal. This could represent the decay of Japan or a sort of denunciation against littering and polluting the environment, as when the girl finishes cleaning it, beneath all that dirt hides the spirit of a river that had previously been polluted, showcasing the clean side of Japan.

In this film, there are no human beings in the background, but true demons and spirits, as already mentioned with the Stink Spirit or "No-Face," who has the power to create gold from his hands. We see the spa workers trample and jostle each other to get some; No-Face has another attribute: he eats everything, is always hungry, and is unstoppable, even going so far as to eat the workers.

No-Face is not evil; he only gets angry when Chihiro doesn't return his feelings and rages, destroying everything.

Doesn't that remind you of anything? These demons are just like us: they push and would fight each other for more gold, blinded by wealth, power, and money; they would fight and kill for more of it, things that happen every day. Miyazaki makes us understand that if we chase wealth and power, we can be devoured by it.

The figure of the rich and evil is found in the Witch Yubaba, the bathhouse director. This witch, too, thinks of nothing but power and gold. What I like about the villains in Studio Ghibli films is that you can recognize them at first glance: big, bulky, with pointed noses and a wart in the middle.

What I like most about this film are the settings, which give you a nostalgia never felt in any other Ghibli film. Surely the best along with "Howl" in terms of the film's beauty, once again a Studio Ghibli Masterpiece.