My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

 I have seen My Neighbor Totoro before but got the chance to see it at the cinema. Having seen Spirited Away and liked it more after seeing it at the cinema, I thought/hoped that the same would happen to My Neighbor Totoro. It’s one of the weaker of Miyazaki’s films. The story sees two sisters move with their father to a new house in the country whilst their mother is recovering in hospital. Whilst exploring they come across a Totoro which is a spiritual being. As much as I want to love this film I simply don't and that is because the plot isn't the best. It never feels like its building up to something it just sort of ends which is disappointing. 

Something else that I didn't notice the first time I watched this film is just how annoying Mei is. I get that her mother is in hospital and she wants her home but the way that she throws a tantrum at Satsuki just ruins to nice vibe that the film had managed with these two throughout the film. If Satsuki had done something bad then I could understand the mood but as it stands, she just comes across as unreasonable. Now I know she is a young child but it just is a big negative for me as far as enjoying the film is concerned.

On the plus side, The animation, like all Studio Ghibli’s stuff this film is beautiful. It puts a lot of computer generated animation to shame and shows why Studio Ghibli is held in such high regard. I would love to live in this world because it seems like a nice place to work and live in. I also think that the soundtrack is lovely. Its another film when I have gone home and brought the soundtrack.  

This is one of my least favourite Miyazaki films but I still think its worth your time. The animation is worth the 90 minutes of your time and even with the weak plot, you’ll still finish the film in a better mood than when you started and thats what all films (apart from horror) should strive for.

Spirited Away (2001)

I previously watched this film on Netflix back in 2024 but with an opportunity to watch it again on the big screen, I felt like I couldn't miss the chance. The set up is pretty straight forward but there are parts of the film that are anything but. Chihiro and her parents are moving when they come across an abandoned amusement park and after pigging out on what appears to be food in this clearly abandoned area, they are turned into pigs and the rest of the film is about trying to help her parents.

The first 30-40 minutes are really good and the final 30 minutes is really good but the middle is where the film really is confusing as to what is actually going on. Despite not knowing what is really going on at times, it never felt like weird things were happening just for the sake of things. This may be a case of something being lost in translation but I think things would have made more sense if I had watched this when it originally came out or grew up with this kind of cinema. I was never bored despite the running time being around two hours and that is a good sign the film worked. The film works as well as it does because the character of Chihiro is rather charming. She starts off as a typical child but by the end of the film she becomes a much stronger individual even though she has been through a lot and seen a lot and also has pretty much lost her boyfriend and seems ok with it. I know the idea is that they would meet up outside of the film but I still think that they don't stay together at the end of the film was a pretty sad note to finish the film.

I liked Spirited Away a lot more than the first time I watched it. I think the animation is like all Miyazaki films and that is beautiful. I don't normally stay as the credits are rolling usually because without being too crude nature calls, but this time I stayed because the song that was being played was beautiful and we got stills of various scenes from throughout the film. I think that had the film been about 20-30 minutes shorter then the film would have connected with me a lot more than it did.