Japanese lit. Sen & Chihiro’ s ‘Spirited Away’ is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written & directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
It tells the story of Chihiro ‘Sen’ Ogino, a ten year old girl, who while moving to a new neighbourhood, enters the world of ‘kami’ ( spirits of Japanese Shinto folklore). After her parents are turned into pigsby the witch Yubaba, Chihiro taakes a job working in Yubaba’s bathhouse to find a way to free herself & her parents & return to the human world.
Made on a budget of $ 18.2 million it made $ 395. 8 million. A co-recipient of the Golden Bear with ‘Bloody Sunday’ at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival & the first & to date only, hand-drawn, Japanese anime & non English language animated film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated feature at the 75th Academy Awards.
‘Spirited Away’ is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time & has been included in various ‘best of’ lists.
After 17 years of being at the top, Spirited Away was dethroned as the highest-grossing anime film of all time by the first Demon Slayer film, released in October 2020.
A stage adaptation of ‘Spirited Away’was announced in Feb.2021 with a world premiere planned in Tokyo on 28 Feb,2022. It is written & directed by John Caird. In August 2023, it was announced that the production would have it’s European premiere at the London Coliseum from April 2024.
Beautiful visuals & strong story line made it a cult movie.
Asian Entertainment 