Reviewed by RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * * )
The latest Anime feature by Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki arrives on our screens with many an accolade to its name - originally Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi or Sen and the Mysterious Disappearance of Chihiro.
Not only did it win this week's best
animated feature Oscar - ahead of some fairly lacklustre American competition - it also won the top overall prize at last year's Berlin Film Festival and it's Japan's all-time box-office champ, having earned more than $US230 ($420 million) in its home country.
So then, any good?
Well, if your idea of heaven is watching arty cartoons all day, then yes. For Spirited Away certainly takes all day. Or that's how it feels.
But so did Miyazaki's previous Tolkienesque Princess Mononoke and it was much more compelling.
This one looks just as painterly and every word you can think of which means "dream-like" or "frequently bizarre". However, it's too big on "fairy" and not quite strong enough on "tale".
You can see why it's won that widespread acclaim - when the oozing giant Stink Spirit turns up at the spirit-world bathhouse for a hose-down and some karmic adjustment, it's hard not to laugh at the visual results or at just how tangential the episode is to the whole story.
Its Alice In Wonderland-ish adventure of Chihiro, a feisty pigtailed 10-year-old girl. Tossed into that spirit world after her dad takes a wrong turn on the way to their new house, she must find a way of undoing the spell which has turned her parents into pigs, certainly isn't afraid of going around the long way. Miyazaki likes to have characters which don't have a lot to do but stand around and look weird - the Radish Spirit being the oddest pointless decoration of all.
So it ends up an epic that's easy to admire for its visual imagination - and its seamless dubbing into English - than enjoyed. Its long-windedness and some grim content doesn't recommend it for younger kids.
But if the attention span is up to it, older, more forgiving optic nerves may enjoy being frazzled by this gentle giant of a freakshow.
Voices: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, David Ogden Stiers, Lauren Holly
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Rating: PG
Running Time: 131 mins Screening: Advance previews this weekend at Village and Rialto cinemas. Opens Thursday.
Reviewed by RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * * )
The latest Anime feature by Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki arrives on our screens with many an accolade to its name - originally Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi or Sen and the Mysterious Disappearance of Chihiro.
Not only did it win this week's best
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