Info
- Title:: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi
- TitleEN:: Spirited Away
- Producer:: Studio Ghibli
- Studio:: Studio Ghibli
- Year:: 2001
- Runtime:: 2 hr 4 min
Log
2017-09-30
though the first time i watched it was in high school. i remember more about that night (at ███‘s house, someone else was there too who i can’t remember, i expressed interest in baking and her mom offered to teach me how to make pies and such. i never took her up on the offer and kinda regret it, though i think my reason was due to both being shy and seeing it as a way to weasel my way into ███‘s life and romance her, which i didn’t especially want to do. she’s nice, and seemed like she’d be loud in bed, and has some underlying pains which really get to me. i remember the one time when she broke down crying when she recalled how her older sister was killed by an errant car—an event which happened years before she was born. but personally i think i was nearing the end of being wrapped up in ▒▒▒▒, and would’ve never thought to entertain feelings for another) than the movie itself (no-face, the stairs scene, the generally labyrinthine feel). i didn’t even remember the plot, or how she ended up in this world.
i think ghibli movies tend to do this to me, for some reason or another. after enough time, i can never really remember what happened. i remember seeing howl’s moving castle too yet don’t remember what happened. i just remember that the castle moves.
now i’m trying to think of other movies i’ve seen recently, and am trying to remember their plots. this is kinda hit or miss, though for each movie i can remember vague images of scenes. i’m thinking that the difference between a movie whose plot i remember and one whose i don’t depends on whether the snippets i can recall are plot-relevant. if you have a few of those to anchor on, then it’s easier to unspool the plot from that starting memory. maybe.
and after rewatching spirited away, it strikes me that the plot-important scenes are overshadowed in flashiness by the spectacle of the bathhouse. still, i don’t mind this discrepancy while watching the film, since the bathhouse is so beguiling that i wish i could watch it for hours. it feels like you never fully exhaust its mysteries. there are entire floors that you only catch a glimpse of in the film. the few anomalies you do see make you wonder what else is out there.
on the other hand, the huge plot moments pale in their splendor (the contract poofs away) and there aren’t many huge plot moments to be found. this movie feels rather subtle in its development. pieces are put tactically in place for use later.
(i shoulda remembered the haku reveal though. that was pretty big and visually impressive)
also the yubaba/baby dynamic is totally a sex thing.
i’ve only since seen █████ once, while taking the jlpt. i passed her in the hall during a break. she didn’t notice me, and i didn’t feel like getting her attention.