Spi­ri­ted away

Ten-year-old Chihiro is not at all happy when her parents move with her from Tokyo to a small suburb. She experiences the car journey that is supposed to take her away from her old home listlessly. Shortly before arriving at their new home, the family comes across a mysterious tunnel, which the parents and Chihiro walk through out of curiosity, and which leads them to an abandoned ghost town. It is not long before Chihiro's parents are transformed into pigs by a spell. Left alone, the girl now finds herself in a strange world that humans are actually not allowed to enter. Her only companion at first is Haku, a mysterious boy her age who already seems to know his way around this magical world. He shows her the way and helps Chihiro, who does everything in her power to turn her parents back into humans. She can only do this, however, if she enters the service of the witch Yubaba, who not only rules the magical world of Aburaya, but is also the mistress of a bathhouse in which she exhausts herself. Gods and spirits recover and purify. Chihiro accepts the challenge and sets off on a journey on which she must demonstrate unimagined courage, willpower and perseverance, and which shows her that it is worth fighting if you have a goal.
At the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2002, SPIRITED AWAY won the Golden Bear and was met with rapturous enthusiasm from audiences and the press. SPIRITED AWAY is an exciting adventure film for the whole family and at the same time a modern parable about today's Japan and the values of the Western world. Greed, materialism and egoism are questioned and challenged in the form of the pagan Chihiro. This 'anime' (genre name for Japanese animated films, which are also becoming increasingly popular here) has so far fascinated 21 million visitors in its home country, had more viewers there than 'Titanic' and became the most successful film of all time outside the USA.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Film genre: Adventure Animation Drama Fantasy
Access age / Recommended age:
Country of production: Japan (2001)
Duration: 125'