Posted by Jim at May 24th, 2004

Sometime during the fall or winter of last year, I bought a used copy of “Spirited Away” at Blockbuster.

I had not seen the movie, but had heard it recommended enough times that the combination of low price and good reviews made it seem worth buying anyway. When I did finally get to watch it, I liked it a lot. Much to my amusement, Abby (my 3 year old daughter) loved it. She wants to watch it again and again.

I can only wonder what kind of sense she makes out of it. Of course, at her age the world in general is a bit of a mystery and “Spirited Away,” a product of Japanese culture, probably seems only marginally more mystifying than anything else.

I liked many things about “Spirited Away.” The music’s mood is wonderfully right (somewhere between amazement and melancholy). The main character’s expressions are just right for a child and are not generally the most obvious reaction to the situation.

Though the movie doesn’t really have much of a plot, the characters seem real. The art always feels exactly right for the scene and is occaisionally beautiful.

My wife has never sat down to watch it, sometimes walking through the room as it plays. I suspect that she will never watch it.

She has an aversion to watching movies that include disembodied heads.