I get the feeling that this is always going to be one of those movies I feel like I dreamt. There were a number of details in this viewing that I have literally no recollection of seeing before, even though I was watching the exact same copy of the movie that I watched the first time. If anything, the movie is more disturbing than I grudgingly admitted in the first review; but bizarrely, at the same time, I find it even more beautiful than ever. There’s really not much more I want to say at this point, except, “Squirrel butts don’t glow!” I’d also add to the “little girl lost” themed movies I referred to in the first review as good companions for it, aside from the obvious “Alice in Wonderland” adaptations, this would also work brilliantly alongside Lawn Dogs ... I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me before.

21st November, 2006:

The reaction so far to this movie suggested to me that it was gonna be a real love-it-or-loathe-it affair, and I was almost certain which category I’d fall into, being as I love most Terry Gilliam movies, I love movies such as this, I was enthralled by the trailer, and recently wowed by the amazing Jodelle Ferland in Silent Hill and the “Dead Like Me” pilot (incidentally, funny how that featured a train crash much like the ending of this movie).

But the movie isn’t so cleancut as that and, as it ended, I found myself really not knowing what to feel. It’s an incredible piece of work, I can tell that immediately, but for now I can neither say I love it nor that I loathe it. I can’t believe I’m gonna say this … but this one actually kinda weirded me out, lol. That really takes some doing.

I love how one review I read of this movie recently said its biggest failing was Jodelle Ferland’s performance, and I think it’s a good place to start my review – if you can’t make the leap with Ferland, and I can understand there’ll be many who can’t, then you’re pretty screwed watching this movie, because it’s pretty much entirely her and entirely through her.

I didn’t think the movie would be nearly so unsettling as it is. As I said, it takes a lot to unsettle me, and this is one of the most uncomfortable movies I’ve ever seen. And if this movie’s disturbing to me, I can’t imagine how much it’s upsetting certain types of people (_cough_ Daily Mail cough) Yet, unsettling as it may be, my eyes haven’t been so glued to the screen in ages. Gilliam succeeds in showing how fantastic the crazy world Ferland occupies is through her eyes without forgetting to remind us what’s really happening. I think that’s what makes it so uncomfortable, the way it keeps sucking you in and as soon as you reach a warm place, it kinda slaps you and says “that’s sick!”

The music and photography are beautiful, and Jodelle Ferland’s performance, while not perfect, is certainly demanding and demands attention. The movie loses its way in the second half, I think, but it picks up beautifully for a haunting finish.

It’ll sit nicely alongside movies such as Paperhouse, Mirrormask, Labyrinth, and, I’m guessing, Pan’s Labyrinth (haven’t seen that yet, will do soon, but I get the impression it’s pretty similar stuff); and really, no matter what you think of it, I can’t understand how anybody could call it terrible, as the aesthetic values alone, as in any Terry Gilliam production, are worth the price of admission.

Slightly fragmented review there, sorry, but there’ll be plenty of chances to refine it on the many, I expect, repeat viewings I’ll be giving it.

There’s a nice review of the movie that just found its way into my RSS feed searches here.

I think I remember when I first watched this I said something about how overjoyed I was when I realised it would be seen by children… usually children’s movies are so simple, or striving so much to be entertaining and funny instead of enlightening. This movie is entertaining and funny, it has all the hallmarks of a children’s movie, but at the same time it serves as the most complete life lesson ever seen in animated, or possibly all, cinema. Basically it is the story of a girl who is thrown into a world where she doesn’t want to be (ain’t that all of us?), she is forced to obey the rules of the world as soon as she arrives in order to survive – if she doesn’t eat food from the world, she will literally disappear (ain’t that all of us?) and then she is forced to get a job she’s not going to like in order to prevent herself being turned into a pig like her parents (and ain’t that all of us?). Miyazaki is amazing at making the mundane fantastic.

I’ve seen the Japanese original version and something has to be said for this movie being seen in the original language – the whole philosophy just seems to fit the language, and I’ve heard that the subtitles are more accurate translations than the dub. But the English dub is definitely as good as I’d heard it was – especially Susan Egan, who is really so good it seems the role was originally written for her, it even practically looks like her. This is either talent or a freakish coincidence, I’ll take the former

Joe Hisaishi is an amazing composer, and his score here completely lifts everything, especially the Big Moment with Chihiro on the dragon’s back at the end, absolute beauty.