What is the theme of "Spirited Away"? Why is it so classic?

Jane 2022-03-15 09:01:01

I couldn’t understand why its reputation was so good before. I didn’t realize that "Spirited Away" is not just a growth movie, but a reflection of history. Countless animated films of Chinese audiences’ youthful memories are Miyazaki’s masterpieces. With an impressive performance of 30.4 billion yen, it ranked among the box office champions of all time Japanese movies and won the 75th Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. , The 52nd Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear Award, can be described as a magnificent. Today, when "Spirited Away" is in theaters, I recommend a book for everyone-"The Wind Catcher Hayao Miyazaki: The Depth of Animated Movies".  Early warning, this book may completely subvert the perception of "Spirited Away" in the past 18 years. The author of this book, Qin Gang, is an associate professor at the Beijing Research Center for Japanese Studies and a PhD in Japanese Literature from the University of Tokyo. He believes that Spirited Away is not only a youth elegy about growth and pain, but also a history and memory. National Fable. On the surface of National Highway No. 20, "Spirited Away" tells such a story. On the way to move, the girl Chihiro Ogino's family accidentally hit and went to the strange world at the other end of the tunnel. Chihiro's parents became two pigs waiting to be slaughtered because they were greedy for food that only gods could enjoy. Under the cue of the mysterious character Xiao Bai, Chihiro worked hard in the "oil house" of the witch Tang Po, and finally rescued his parents and returned to the real world. The seemingly absurd plot setting is not Hayao Miyazaki's personal fantasies, but a microcosm of the entire Japanese society at the turn of the century.  At the beginning of the movie, the Chihiro family drove a private car and wandered on the highway. This road landscape is based on the "Sifangzu" station on the JR line of Japan National Railways. The art director and chief creators of Spirited Away have done a thorough field investigation of the original scene in advance. The reason why "Sifangzu" is used as the starting stage of the story is because it is located in Koshu Street, "National Highway No. 20" in Japan. In the sub-scene script drawn by Hayao Miyazaki, it is clearly stated that this scene needs to reproduce the impression of "National Highway No. 20". From the movie screen, it can be clearly seen that the blue road signs standing on the highway show that the No. 20 national highway is in front of the "No. 21 national highway." However, in reality, Japan's National Highway No. 20 and National Highway No. 21 are far apart, and there is no connection or intersection at all. The virtual world in the movie, the reason why National Road 20 and National Road 21 are connected end to end is undoubtedly more important to the 20th and 21st centuries. An intentional hint of Die. The connotation of the word "national road" also appropriately reveals that the story of the entire film is a "national fable" about Japan.  In 2001, "Spirited Away" was completed. Chihiro in the movie is ten years old. According to this calculation, Chihiro should be born in 1991 when Japan's bubble economy collapsed. In other words, the age of Chihiro coincides with the stagnation period of the Japanese economy, which is called the "lost decade" in Japanese history. During the economic downturn in Japan in the 1990s, the generation that walked out of campus was called the Lost Generation (Lost Generation). Chihiro in the movie has temporarily lost her social attributes, is homeless, and has no books to read. This 10-year-old girl reflects the restless mental state of a young man who grew up in the economic depression. This unstable mental state is a kind of doubt and anxiety about self-identity. In a foreign land, the white-clothed boy Xiaobai reminded the young girl Chihiro that she must hide her real name. Once her name is deprived, she will not find a way back.   Chihiro, who was sitting calmly facing the faceless man who turned into a giant monster, said similar things: Where did you come from? Do you have parents too? Can't you find home? I have to go to a place, so go back to where you came from. Many characters in the movie seem to have lost their memories and forgot where they came from. Such as Chihiro, Xiaobai, faceless man, frog man, Chihiro's parents, soup bird (bird-shaped incarnation of grandma soup), decaying god (polluted river god), etc. These characters have all gone through a process of losing themselves, finding themselves, and finally returning. "The Wind Catcher Hayao Miyazaki" believes that human memory connects the past and the future. This is the core theme conveyed by Spirited Away. 02 Granny Tang and Granny Qian In Spirited Away, there are two witch sisters with very different temperaments, one is Granny Tang and the other is Granny Qian. The connotations of these two characters are quite rich. Let me talk about Granny Tang first. Granny Tang is the owner of the "oil house". The so-called oil house is a large Japanese bath where gods from all walks of life come to wash dirt and relieve fatigue, and this bath house that hides dirt is actually a microcosm of the world. Under the guidance of Xiaoling, Chihiro walked through the interior of the oil house, saw all kinds of strange flowers, and took the elevator to the top floor marked with the word "天" and came to Granny Tang's room. This shows that Mrs. Tang is at the top of the oil house's power structure. At the entrance of Granny Tang’s boudoir, there is an eagle-shaped gold foil emblem hung with the word "oil" in the center of the emblem.   In addition, beside Granny Tang, there is an eagle-shaped "soup bird" with the same appearance as her. As long as Granny Tang puts on a black cape, the bird can fly in the air like an eagle. All this shows that the eagle is the super symbol of Tang Po Po, the supreme ruler of the oil house. The eagle-shaped logo reminds people of the national emblem of the United States. Because the eagle (to be precise, the bald eagle) is the national bird of the United States and a symbol of the United States. It is not difficult to see that Tang Po Po, who uses the eagle as a super symbol, actually alludes to the United States, which used Japan as a puppet after World War II and manipulated it from behind the scenes. The resplendent oil house symbolizes the modern society with turbulent materialism. Supporting the operation of the bath is the business policy of maximizing profit, which is undoubtedly a true reflection of the consumer era. As Miyazaki himself said, the alien world that Chihiro strayed into is actually Japanese society.   After talking about Granny Tang, let’s talk about Granny Qian. In the film, Granny Qian is Granny Tang's twin sister, almost exactly the same. In fact, in the original design, the image of the Witch Sisters Flower is different. From the design draft drawn by Hayao Miyazaki, it can be seen that the older sister, Granny Qian, is tall, thin, and gentle, while the younger sister, Granny Tang, is short, fat, and awkward. Granny Tang is a greedy manager and a ruler at the top of power; Granny Qian is full of love and lives in a quaint farmhouse on the other side of the sea. The place where she lives is called "The bottom of the swamp". According to "The Wind Catcher Hayao Miyazaki", Granny Tang symbolizes the industrial civilization of Europe and the United States represented by the United States, while Granny Qian represents the traditional agricultural civilization of Asia. In 1999, Hayao Miyazaki wrote a director’s narrative called "Chihiro in a Foreign Land", emphasizing the importance of the past and history to a nation and country. Miyazaki said that in an era without borders, people without a foothold are the most despised. The so-called foothold is the past and history. In my opinion, people without history and peoples who have forgotten the past can only disappear like mayfly. 03 Xiaobai and the faceless man "Spirited Away" have an unnoticeable weirdness. It stands to reason that Chihiro's rescue of parents who become pigs should be the main line of the film's narrative. However, in the entire film, Chihiro almost never made a specific move to save his parents. "The Wind Catcher Hayao Miyazaki" believes that Xiao Bai and the faceless man acted together as a stand-in for Chihiro's parents. In other words, Chihiro's rescue of Xiaobai and the faceless man has the same meaning as her rescue of her parents. Xiao Bai, who can transform into a dragon, is a "hidden" god. When Xiaobai was the god of the Amber River, he had saved Qianhiro from drowning. For Qianhiro, Xiaobai was the god of nature who gave her a second life. At the end of the movie, triggered by Qianxun's childhood memories, Xiaobai remembered his original name-Rao Sushui Amber Master.   The name Rao Hayami, Amber Lord, was born out of Rao Sori, a deity recorded in the "Nihon Shoki". Rao Suri is the grandson of the great god Amaterasu. Holding ten kinds of artifacts, he descended from the sky to Yamato and became the king of the Yamato region. From this point of view, Xiao Bai, who inherited Rao Suri’s name, has no Doubt is given a symbolic meaning. From a certain level, the role of Xiaobai is a Japan that has lost its subjective consciousness. In the movie, Grandpa Boiler said that since Xiaobai became Granny Tang's disciple, his face has become more and more ugly, and his eyes have become more and more fierce. He often walks secretly. It is said that Granny Tang is making him do bad things. What bad things did Xiaobai do under the instructions of Granny Tang? Judging from the plot of the movie, it was Xiaobai who stole Mother Qian's witch's seal. After stealing the seal, Xiaobai's transformed white dragon was chased by countless human-shaped pieces of paper conjured by mother-in-law Qian using magic, and fled back to the oil house with bruises. Then, the reluctant mother-in-law Qian also rushed over. Taking advantage of the momentary negligence of Qian's mother, Xiao Bai suddenly waved the dragon's tail and cut her in half from top to bottom.  The bad things done by the fierce Xiaobai can be regarded as the countless crimes committed by Japan against Asia and the world since the Meiji Restoration. In 1853, the United States used gunboats to force Japan to open its country. Japan used the United States as a division to carry out the Meiji Restoration, then opened up Hokkaido, sent troops to Taiwan, launched the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, annexed South Korea, created the Lugou Bridge Incident, and tried to establish the so-called "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity". lock up". This series of histories can be regarded as the national crimes committed by Japan in stealing the "seal of power" from Asian countries. This corresponds exactly to Xiaobai's theft of Mother Qian's seal in Spirited Away. The same is true for faceless men. In Japanese, the name of a faceless man means "no face", a metaphor for Japan's faceless state of self-deficiency. After the faceless man broke into the oil room, he turned into an infinitely swelling monster, opened his blood basin and swallowed everything in front of him. This is exactly the same as the Japanese wolf’s ambition and delusion to engulf Asia and the world during World War II.  In the movie, Xiao Bai is transformed into a white dragon, surrounded by a large number of paper men, severely injured and dying. As Hayao Miyazaki said, Xiao Bai, who has lost his memory and forgotten history, can no longer escape the fate of disappearing like a ephemeral . How did Chihiro save Xiao Bai at the critical moment? Qianxun asked Bai Long to swallow half a bitter ball, and Bai Long spit out the stolen seal, restoring the appearance of the boy in white. But at this time, he has lost consciousness and his life is hanging down. Qianxun knew very well that the only way to save Xiaobai was to go to Mother-in-law Qian's residence, return the seal that Xiaobai had stolen, and sincerely apologize to the other party. 04 A great movie Hayao Miyazaki said that Chihiro’s ride on the tram and cross-sea apology was the climax of the entire movie. Cross-sea apology is like a magic key, allowing each character's plight to be solved. Xiaobai assured Chihiro , He will leave the oil room and no longer be the minion of Granny Tang; the faceless man stays in Granny Qian’s house and finds his belongings; Chihiro’s parents have also changed from piggy back to humans. Hayao Miyazaki set the apology across the sea as the climax of the movie, which is really well-intentioned. What it reflects is that Japan should reflect on its own evil deeds and apologize. Japanese writer Haruki Murakami once published an article titled "Abandoned Cat, What I Have to Tell When Mentioning My Father". In this article, Haruki Murakami, in his 70s, announced for the first time that his father was a Japanese invader. 

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Extended Reading
  • Karl 2021-10-20 18:59:04

    It's an adult animation again, and it is estimated that it is difficult for most Chinese audiences to experience it.

  • Melba 2022-03-23 09:01:11

    Spirited Away is my favorite anime movie. I like Hayao Miyazaki's movies, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, etc. I like this kind of anime movie that tells the relationship between people and nature. I think Spirited Away tells us that one can't be too greedy, it will only harm oneself in the end. It also tells us the warmth and love in the world.

Spirited Away quotes

  • [in Japanese]

    Zeniba: I'd like to help you, dear, but there's nothing I can do. It's one of our rules here. You've got to take care of your parents and that dragon boyfriend of yours, on your own.

    Chihiro: But, um, can't you even give me a hint? I feel like Haku and I met, a long time ago.

    Zeniba: In that case, it's easy. Nothing that happens is ever forgotten, even if you can't remember it.

  • [in Japanese]

    Chihiro: Listen, Haku. I don't remember it, but my mom told me... Once, when I was little, I fell into a river. She said they'd drained it and built things on top. But I've just remembered. The river was called... Its name was the Kohaku River. Your real name is Kohaku.

    [Haku slowly changes into a boy again, permanently shedding away his white dragon skin. The two are falling from the sky, holding each other's hands]

    Haku: Chihiro, thank you. My real name is Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi.

    Chihiro: Nigihayami?

    Haku: Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi.

    Chihiro: [starts to cry] What a name. Sounds like a god.

    Haku: I remember too, how you fell into me as a child. You had dropped your shoe.

    Chihiro: Yes, you carried me to shallow water, Kohaku.

    [they put their faces close together, close enough to kiss]

    Chihiro: I'm so grateful!