Spirited Away

Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi

"Spirited Away" (jap. Spirited Away Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, "Sen and the Kami Kidnapped Chihiro" is a 2001 animated feature film directed by Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli.. The film premiered in Japan on July 20, 2001, and in Russia on December 31, 2002.

The plot of the film tells about a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro Ogino, who moves into a new house. But it turns out that she finds herself in another world inhabited by ghosts and monsters. After her parents are turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro goes to work at Yubaba's bathhouse in order to find a way to free herself and her parents and return to the human world. Famous Japanese voice actors took part in voicing the characters: Hiiragi Rumi, Irino Miyu, Natsuki Mari and Bunta Sugawara.

The film was a huge hit with critics and audiences, and is featured on many lists of the greatest animated films in history. It became the most successful film in Japanese history, with a box office gross of approximately US$274 million. The film overtook Titanic (at the time the world's highest-grossing film) at the Japanese box office to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese history with a total gross of 30,4 billion yen. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003 and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002. Also, "Spirited Away" takes 1st place in the ranking of the best cartoons of all time according to IMDb.

The Spirited Away anime was released on VHS and DVD in Japan on July 19, 2002. In Russia, the film was released on licensed DVDs by Central Partnership.

Plot

Akio's father, Yuko's mother, and their XNUMX-year-old daughter Chihiro move into a new home somewhere in the outback of Japan. Having mixed up the road to a new house and passing through a strange forest, they come to a dead end: they stop in front of a high wall, in which the entrance darkens. Entering there and following a long dark tunnel, they enter a building that looks like a train station, leaving which they find themselves in an empty town, almost entirely consisting of empty restaurants. Not a soul anywhere. By a pleasant smell, the father finds an empty, but clearly functioning restaurant, in which a table is found bursting with delicacies and a wide variety of dishes. His father and mother stay for a bite to eat, while Chihiro goes to wander around the city. Going out to a large building with the inscription "Baths of Abura-ya", she meets the boy Haku, who demands that she immediately run away from there. Twilight quickly thickens and evening comes, the city is flooded with strange shadows that appear from everywhere. Chihiro rushes to the restaurant where her parents were left and is horrified to find that they have turned into pigs. Frightened, Chihiro runs to the place where they came from, however, now on the way there is not a dry, rocky bed passed before, but a wide river.

Haku finds Chihiro and helps her by taking her to the bathhouse and explaining what's going on. It turns out that Chihiro and his parents ended up in a magical world. The mistress of the town is the sorceress Yubaba, under her control there are baths and restaurants where gods, ghosts, spirits and other supernatural beings from all over the world come to rest. Yubaba turns everyone except guests and her employees into animals. In order to gain hope of saving her parents and returning home, Chihiro, on the advice of Haku, must demand Yubaba's job - according to an old vow, Yubaba cannot refuse such a request to anyone. With the help of new acquaintances - grandfather Kamaji and bath attendant Rin - Chihiro manages to get to Yubaba's office and get a job there, and with it a new name. Now Chihiro's name is Sen.

Chihiro starts working in the baths, she tries hard, hoping to help her parents regain their human form and find a way back. One day, in Yubaba's absence, Chihiro witnesses Haku returning from somewhere in the form of a dragon, pursued by a flock of paper birds. Following Haku to Yubaba's quarters, Chihiro learns that Haku, on Yubaba's orders, stole the enchanted seal from her twin sister Zeniba and is now dying from the curse placed on the seal. With the help of Kamaji's grandfather and a "bitter cake" given earlier by a client - the spirit of the rivers - Chihiro breaks the curse and thus saves Haku from death. After that, she decides to go to Zeniba to return the stolen seal and ask for forgiveness and cure Haku. Chihiro embarks on a train journey with the Faceless Ghost God, whom she let into the baths the day before, as well as Zeniba turned into a small animal and a small bird by Yubaba's son Bo and a spy bird. At the same time, Haku, who has come to his senses, makes Yubaba promise to give Chihiro a chance to disenchant his parents and return to his world if he himself returns Yubaba's son. Haku goes to get Chihiro and Yubaba's son to Zeniba. Dzeniba forgives Haku. Chihiro, Haku, Bo, and the peeping bird return to Yubaba's baths together. During the return trip, Chihiro helps Haku remember his real name. With his memories back, Haku frees himself from his duty to serve Yubaba.

Back in the baths, Chihiro passes the final test - she needs to get to know her parents among the pigs. Chihiro answers correctly that her parents are not among them. After which the contract signed by Chihiro with Yubaba disappears. Yubaba lets the girl go. Haku escorts Chihiro and warns her not to look back. At parting, he says that he will finish his business and return to the real world, where they will definitely meet.

Returning back to the strange building that looks like a train station, Chihiro meets his father and mother, who do not remember anything about what happened and are sure that they were just taking a walk. The whole family again goes through the tunnel and goes back to the car, which during their absence turns out to be heavily covered with fallen leaves and dusty inside. Surprised by this fact, but not attaching great importance to it, they leave.