Spirited Away

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Spirited Away is a beautifully animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. This story follows a young girl Chihiro and her journey to rescue her parents after they have been turned into pigs for feasting on food that did not belong to them in a small, seemingly abandoned village. Throughout the film Chihiro (also known as Sen) shows her dedidcation, integrity, kindness, and perseverance as she works in a bathhouse and encounters many different, difficult spirits. I actually showed this film to my AP Biology students after our AP exam and they absolutely loved it. As a science teacher, it is difficult to think of ways to incorporate this film into my curriculum, however I think it definitely has the potential to be a wonderful tool in an English classroom. Students could study the literary elements present in the film (imagery, metaphor, personification). The film could be used as a way to discuss different forms of story-telling or it could be used as a way to evaluate Japanese culture through the images and language used throughout.

[Anonymous]

Spirited away is still one of those films I hear everyone talking about but have never gotten around to. I love Miyazaki style animation, I really will have to check it out!

[Valerie Doby]

Film - Spirited Away (2001) country - Japan (released  2003 in the USA)

Directors: Hayao Miyazaki, Kirk Wise

Writer: Hayao Miyazaki

 

I have a lot of students who love anime and I asked them what movie I should watch for my East Asia class.  I wanted something that I could possible show in class that students would enjoy.  They suggested one of their favorites Spirited Away.  

The movie is about a young girl, Chihiro, who is moving to a new place and her family stops along the way.  Her parents are turned into pigs and she is spirited away to a bath house with spirits.  She must find a job in order to stay and rescue her parents.  

The story is a little slow to me but the visuals are great.  I am not sure how I would use this story in my class.  We could compare it to other stories that we can read or possible other anime’s.  I think I prefer movies or anime that have more of a historical reference to show in the class.

 

[Sonia Arrayales]

I too saw this film and loved it. The story plot for younger viewers might be hard to follow, but I believe that for the younger ones it would be best to show it in parts and discuss what we are seeing.

[Author]

Posts