It isn't very easy to convince the jury of a pretentious festival like Berlin that your animation is better than all the other features in competition. Maybe Miyazaki's success is based especially on his extremely focused effort on creating a believable world in which believable characters evolve bound by a dreamlike predestination. When Chihiro's parents start eating from the tables filled with extravagant dishes, one can expect something nasty is going to happen. Animation is the closest step a filmmaker can take toward an accurate depiction of dreams, and the "Japanese Disney" can obviously handle the techniques. The entrance in the "mysterious town", the green field, the beautiful architecture, the loneliness of that place reminds us of eerie moments in our own childhood, when we could wonder at a midsummer garden full of flowers in the afternoon. Soon, the plot unfolds and we can witness Chihiro's adventures in a fantastic land where spirits gathered after dark. It's useless to describe the richness of colors and details and the amazing characters which one can enjoy in this monumental fairy-tale. The European and American response to this Japanese production showed that this kind of story, although filled with specific motives and themes, is useful in any civilization. It's about the power of a child to surpass any fear or difficulty in order to be back with her parents.
Review of Spirited Away
