Sabina Holtby - Spirited Away

I judge films by my emotional response to them. Of the films I enjoy I say, “I sat Indian style,” meaning that I enjoyed the film so much I began to get sucked in and ignored what was going on around me. I sat cross legged during Spirited Away, the film was beautifully animated and the story was interesting and moved quickly.
The best part of the movie for me was all the little details; I especially enjoyed the boiler room. The little creatures running with the coal and all the drawers, I loved the complexity of the bath house and the beautiful interior scenes. The very beginning when Chihiro walks down the long stairs and into the beautiful, dancing boiler room I was drawn into the story, I wanted to know everything I could about the place.
I find that I react first to the visuals of the film, even a story that I know ends happily is still painful and depressing to walk if the colors are filmy and dark. The Borrowers is a great example the filter used for filming makes the visuals very heavy, on the other hand Spirited Away begins with lively colors and interesting complex characters.