Spent the weekend up in Boston visiting with my two elder daughters, Shana and Gwen, who are both living there now. Saturday evening we saw “Spirited Away,” the brilliant Japanese import brought here through the courtesy of Disney (who, perhaps, has gotten fed up with people pointing out similarities between their feature films and various manga and anime, and has decided to go straight to the unvarnished source.)
The film centers around the endeavors of a young girl to free her parents, transformed into pigs, from the clutches of an evil witch who runs a bath house for wayward spirits. Its episodic nature causes the narrative to bog down for a while in the middle, but the strength of the sheer visualization means the film will be with you long after the latest Hollywood drek has been flushed away into the furthest recesses of your memory. We saw the dubbed version; the subtitled version was running a bit too late at night considering we had young Ariel with us, and besides, who wants to tear their eyes away from the staggering array of visuals in order to read the subtitles?
While in the area, we also stopped by New England Comics where Gwen, currently looking for work, filled out a job application. Under “special skills” she wrote, “Can talk Peter David into doing store signing.” Which is true enough, and considering I’m cutting waaaaay back on store signings, that’s no mean feat. So if I wind up signing comics at NEC, you’ll know why.
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May I suggest retaliation?
Tell her that you’re offering “Be Gwen David’s father for a day!” as an auction item for the next CBLDF fund-raiser.
Alternatively, tell her you’ve let all the local sci-fi and comic conventions know where she is and that she’s available as a volunteer.
Just remember what a rabbi once told me: shocking someone so their face goes white is the moral equivalent of killing them. However, it’s got the advantage that you can get them again and again. (OK, that last bit is my own invention…)
Thanks for the overview of Spirited Away. I do find the same kind of pacing peculiarities with most of Miyazaki’s movies but I also find, like you, that the visuals and atmosphere stay with me long after I’ve seen the movie. Hope this is as good as my favorite Miyazaki so far, Kiki’s Delivery Service (yes, I did like that more than Princess Mononoke).
Does anyone out there know if Miyazaki ever did or plans to do a sequel to Kiki’s Delivery Service?
My nieces want me to find her “further” adventures.
Thanks for the plug from all the little underlings at NEC. Hope your daughter enjoys her time in the Boston area.
P.S. The Malden store would be perfect for a signing.