Have you seen Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" movie?

Danilo_G!

I immediately got excited when I saw you had answered my question! Thanks!




HUGE PLOT SPOILERS  FOLLOW TO "SPIRITED AWAY" MOVIE!!!!!!
 If anyone is reading this who has not seen the movie, stop reading and watch the movie first. :)



 I know I watched the movie in the right way for me:
(the right way for me is to intentionally know as little as possible about a movie, preferably knowing absolutely nothing about a movie before I watch) -- last week, a friend wished for me to watch it and he lent the movie to me and I specifically told him not to tell me anything about it.  And I watched it completely alone - - often the best way for me to watch a movie.

In no particular order:

* I admit when I saw it was a Disney-released film, I thought, "children's movie" -- I soon realized it was not a children's movie

* To my credit (at least, to me, I find it an admirable trait), I easily fall into plots and characters. I first found the girl annoying but immediately got creeped out when the family went into the tunnel; just as the girl got a little concerned, so did I.

* And when her parents turned into the unattractive pigs, eating the food in the food stand - - I was scared.

* And I was truly frightened numerous times! And I was repulsed by many of the various characters/ spirits. That wicked-witch type Old Lady with a huge head repulsed me. And that TERRIBLY-frightening-to-me "No Face" Spirit - - whose only vocalizations were a barely-audible exhalation - - VERY scary to me.

* I felt for this girl -- and her desire to find and help her parents. That moment where she was running to try to help and realized the water surrounded her (and how the "water" was animated for the film - - very effective to me) - - she couldn't get anywhere. I felt for her again.

* I was repulsed by that big glob of tall wide moving feces - - that's what it looked like to me. (I admit I know very, very little of the culture, as you mentioned in your answer.)


* I can very much be "into" any kind of movie - I was not expecting any typical Western plot progression - - I  was with, and in, the movie from the very beginning and stayed right with it.

* As I watched the end credits, I found it fun to see that Suzanne Pleshette voiced that horrible big-head "witch" (excuse my term if it is inappropriate) character. At least, I assume it was her voice for that character. I never would have guessed it. Pleshette is one of my favorite parts of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" - - a movie in which pretty much everything and everyone in it makes it a practically perfect movie to me.




* When she fell down that long staircase- - I was scared.


So, to more directly answer your question --  while I was watching the movie, I was not so much enjoying it - - I was experiencing  it all with the main girl. After it was all over (days have gone by) and the movie sticks with me. That tells me I find it a successful movie, even though I was often uncomfortable as I watched. I know you are not surprised that I can experience movies and books and plots along with the characters.

Yes, the animation was impressive - - again, if the movie hit me strongly, the anime was part of it

Thanks again for answering my question!
:)

 Be Well --

Hehe, reading this is almost like watching the movie again, with its cast of crazy creatures and the responses they evoke :) 

Have you heard Haley Heynderickx sing "No Face"? She said "it’s about trying to love people as kindly as you can… or else you will end up like the character". Here it is:

By the way, I won't be here for the next two weeks. Visiting my family in Bosnia!

This post was edited by Danilo_G at April 6, 2022 8:10 PM MDT

Thanks so much for sharing again! It's late at night for me  after a long long day and evening of work.  I'm incredibly intrigued, though with this song. I don't know it. But it's too late for me  at moment to listen -- I want to really connect with it.

Enjoy Bosnia and family!! My best to you always!

This post was edited by WelbyQuentin at April 7, 2022 8:42 AM MDT

Forgive me, Danilo! I forgot about wanting to watch this until now!

And once I did - - I got all creeped out again, just like the movie! ha! I might have liked the song but the video freaked me all over again, yup.  :)
But I admit the video is effective and unique - - like the movie, too.

:)

Hah, no worries, I only just got back from Bosnia :) 

As it happens, I was with one of those cousins again, and pleasantly surprised to find that -- y'know, for a pretty and popular 17-year-old -- she still likes Dead Poets Society so much that she'll quote lengthy sections of it. 

Isn't there something about short songs like that? Someone just popping in to let the words fly and go right back. 

'Dead Poets Society' is one of Williams' best roles to me - - nothing over the top or annoying (how I find him that way sometimes that's just me)

Unsure if I followed you on your comment about short songs.
But - - welcome back!  :)  :)