It will disturb you as much as thrill you, make you wonder whether the boundaries between life and death, reality and fantasy, imagination and insanity are ever what they appear to be.
Spirited Away(千と千尋の神隠し)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan · 2001
Rated PG · 2h 5m
Director Hayao Miyazaki
Starring Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Bunta Sugawara
Genre Animation, Family, Fantasy
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Ten-year-old Chihiro does not want to move to the Japanese countryside. On their way to their new home, she and her parents become trapped in a strange world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
TV Guide Magazine by Frank Lovece
Serenely stunning.
A very nutty fruitcake, Spirited Away is characterized by wonderfully detailed animation, packed with incident and populated by all manner of comic creatures.
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
Turns everything we know about the contemporary world on its head, and substitutes it with one in which spirits, monsters, magicians and animals mix it up in a carnival of energy, good humor and freewheeling illusion.
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
Yet its visual surrealism, identity-bending and strong social/ecological message make it as much an allegory as a fable.
A Japanese cross between "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz" -- is such a landmark in animation that labeling it a masterpiece almost seems inadequate.
New Times (L.A.) by Luke Y. Thompson
Probably like nothing you've ever seen before. In a cool world, it would be guaranteed not only the Best Animated Feature Oscar, but Best Picture as well.
Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow
A visual masterpiece about a scared little girl's breathtaking journey of self-discovery. All of the fun is getting there.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
It's a movie full of bewitching images and timeless fun and beauty.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
Wondrously strange and just plain wonderful.
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