Review: Spirited Away

Chihiro inhabits a place full of spirits in Spirited Away

I'm still trying to digest what I saw in the afternoon showing of Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 masterpiece Spirited Away, an animated fantasy story about a girl who matures very quickly, encounters spirits and learns a lot about human nature.

Ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino and her parents are driving to their new home in the countryside when her father takes a short cut and they stop in front of a tunnel. At first she is scared going in, but her parents check it out, and not wanting to be left alone, Chihiro goes with them.

Her parents start eating food in a deserted place

On the other side they discover a deserted amusement park, emblematic of Japan's boom years. Her father smells something delicious and follows it to a restaurant that is strangely open but no staff inside. Both parents sit down to eat, but Chihiro doesn't think it's right and goes off exploring and discovers she is in a spirit world.

When she goes back to the restaurant, she finds her parents have gorged so much they have morphed into pigs and to save them, Chihiro needs to work for Yubaba, the female owner of a bathhouse for spirits, and it's not an easy task.

Yubaba is a granny with a massive head, but in fact she is a witch, and all her staff are indentured labourers; she has taken their real names so they are stuck in the spirit world.

Yubaba is a pretty scary person to deal with!

As daunting as her task is, at each step of the way, someone helps Chihiro, perhaps because they think she can be of use later on? Or they are keen to see her succeed?

There's a lot of metaphors in the film, as previously mentioned her parents like gluttons eating every dish in sight that refers to human consumerism, while a spirit called No Face (he wears a mask) tempts the bathhouse staff with "gold" that magically appears in his hand, and so they will do whatever he wants as long as he pays them handsomely, a reference to greed.

When No Face tries to get Chihiro to accept his "gold", she refuses, which shows how focused she is on her goal of saving her parents, and that money cannot corrupt her.

The spirit characters are quite an eclectic bunch, from dust sprites that lug lumps of coal to a fiery hot furnace, to a trio of green heads that hang out with Yubaba, and for an elderly lady who also flies like a bird, she sure has a gigantic baby to take care of!

Spirits like No Face help Chihiro along the way

Spirited Away not only has adventure, fantasy and spirits, but also a romantic element when Chihiro meets Haku, a boy who helps her initially, and has been cast under a spell. 

Chihiro's growing maturity is evident, from a girl miffed that she has to start school elsewhere and only cares about her bouquet of flowers, to being determined to do whatever she has to do to save her parents, while learning how the world of work can be physically demanding.

The storyline for Spirited Away has been so well thought out that it's no wonder Miyazaki won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Best Asian Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival among others.

It's a film that resonates with many people who saw it 22 years ago and it continues to inspire them to this day. Even this morning I heard a reference to the film in a radio interview. It was a conversation with Tasli Shaw, an artist and boat captain who makes portraits of marine mammals. When she was asked her all time favourite movie, she immediately answered, Spirited Away.

Romance blooms between Chihiro and Haku

Spirited Away

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

125 minutes

Piano Prodigy Mao Fujita

Fujita with his matcha ice cream for dessert on Saturday night

This weekend I had the privilege of meeting a young pianist who is rising up the ranks of the music world very quickly. Mao Fujita is only 24 years old and looks very young too, but his playing is so deft and playful, making him a perfect conduit for Mozart's music, but he says he loves to play all kinds of music -- as long as it's classical.

My relatives sponsored his concert held by the Vancouver Recital Society, so I had a chance to meet him for dinner the night before. Eight of us dined at Minami, a contemporary Japanese restaurant in Yaletown. The food suited the location, with lots of young people dining late (we sat down at 8pm).

It's Fujita's first trip to Canada, let alone Vancouver, and he hardly had a chance to see the city -- he arrived Friday night, practiced all day Saturday before we met him, and then Sunday afternoon was the recital before he went back to the airport to fly to Amsterdam.

Playing to a packed audience on Sunday afternoon

Even though the Tokyoite claimed he was a bit tired, his eyes were bright and he was nice to talk to.

Some facts about Fujita: He started learning the piano at the age of three and told us his older brother actually played better than him. But there were a lot of expectations and pressure hoisted on his brother, who quit in the end because he hated practicing... 

Meanwhile Fujita grew to love playing the piano, as there was no pressure on him at all and hearing him talk about music he gets very excited, as he thinks about the the phrasing and tone of specific pieces. Quite amazing.

However, he told us his parents are doctors, and his grandfather was one too, and so there were expectations the two brothers would follow, but that did not pan out. Instead his older brother became a piano tuner, and Fujita a rising piano star who gained a lot of attention when he came in second with a silver medal in the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in the piano category in 2019.

He's also left handed too as we found out while eating with chopsticks! Three out of the eight at the table were lefties.

During the dinner he politely refused alcohol and was very clear on wanting one scoop of matcha ice cream for dessert. After that he was keen to go back to his hotel to sleep.

Fujita talking to Leila Getz, concert organiser

The next day the concert venue, the Vancouver Playhouse, was packed, with almost every seat taken. There were many children in the audience as well as Japanese. Two small children barely two and three sat on booster seats, the younger one clutching his teddy bear and was a very good concert goer.

The adults, not so much. Especially in the second half, some phones went off, with two of them racing for the door -- really? Another got up and left during the third movement -- it was going to be over in a few minutes for goodness sakes!

It was noisy and that made it hard to listen to Fujita because his piano playing is so delicate -- his fingers deftly touch the keys to bring out really subtle sounds but at the same time it's Mozart sonatas, which means every note must be heard -- no fudging!

He was so precise with his playing but also added his own interpretation in a split second delay or emphasising different notes. He also seemed keen to get the concert over with -- as soon as he sat down he would play right away, not wasting a moment.

Interestingly he did not wear a suit, but instead chose to wear a dark brown long sleeve smock or tunic over his pants and shiny shoes. There seemed to be a button on his left side that was very shiny when it caught the light.

Fujita during the Tchaikovsky competition

After the concert of four Mozart sonatas was finished, he received a standing ovation and he sat down to play Tchaikovsky... It was the Sonata No. 9 in D major, so he chose to play a Tchaikovsky piece in D minor!

He took a few minutes to change into casual clothes before for the Q&A, with many young people asking questions like, What is the hardest piece you have ever played? Have you learned all the Mozart sonatas? (no). How do you memorise all the pieces?

When he was young he would play three, four hours a day. Now living in Berlin the last two years he is allowed to play from 8am to 8pm, not that he practices 12 hours a day. However, he is constantly thinking about what he has to play next with his hectic schedule of 70-80 concerts a year! And he flies economy!

How does he deal with jetlag? Practicing keeps him awake!

And what is he listening for when he practices? My playing! he replied. Then he said when he practices he thinks he is playing very well, but in front of an audience he is nervous. 

In late January he made his Carnegie Hall debut, though the New York Times did not give him a particularly favourable review, saying his pieces were relatively safe... nevertheless he told us at the dinner that he will play there again next year.

One person asked why Mozart? And he said during the pandemic he was stuck at home and gravitated towards Mozart and focused on his pieces, which led to his most recent recording last year, Mozart: The Complete Sonatas.

Excited for this young person who is so passionate about classical music he is not interested in any other genre!

Sonata No. 7 in C major, K. 309

Sonata No. 8 in A minor, K. 310/300d

Sonata No. 13 in B-flat major, K. 333

Sonata No. 9 in D major, K. 311

Scholz's Beijing Visit Raises Eyebrows

Scholz met Xi in Beijing for a one-day visit

German media are pointing out Chancellor Olaf Scholz "weird" 11-hour visit to Beijing. Aside from the extreme Covid-19 protocols, critics say the German Chancellor is going against the country's strategy with regards to its relationship with China, and this could threaten unity of the European Union.

But first navigating the pandemic in China.

Everyone who got onto the plane with Scholz had to take two PCR tests before arriving in the Chinese capital, and a third as soon as they landed. The "big whites" in hazmat suits did throat swab tests in an airport transporter on the tarmac.

People in hazmat suits tested German delegation

But Scholz did not take the Chinese test -- instead he insisted on using a German-made test with the Chinese watching him have the test done.

The trip was also one day to avoid Scholz staying in a hotel and either contracting the virus or spreading it (if he was positive).

And everyone on board the plane had to sign an agreement that if they contracted the virus in China, they could fly back to Germany to avoid being stuck in quarantine in Beijing.

After the one-day trip was over, the plane flew from Beijing to South Korea where the flight crew were changed before continuing back to Berlin.

One German reporter wryly notes while all the above mentioned stuff was weird, it all points to both countries not trusting each other -- like their respective coronavirus tests for starters.

China allowed to buy a stake in Hamburg port

Many are wondering why Scholz is cozying up to President Xi Jinping, whom many consider a dictator because of the serious human rights violations on the Uyghurs, Hongkongers, and his own people during the pandemic, and how he is threatening to take over Taiwan by force.

It is strange that Scholz pushed for a Chinese state shipping company Costco to buy a  24.9 percent stake in one of Hamburg's port terminals, going against his own foreign minister's advice. 

He also brought a delegation of business leaders to Beijing to do deals even though the country is trying to be less dependent on China. 

Maybe that was all for show, or part of the deal to allow his short visit to go ahead?

"The trip sends a message that even though Berlin should be seriously rethinking the relationship with China, they are going back to business as usual," said Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, an assistant professor at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan, and a former political advisor to the European Parliament.

Germany giving mixed messages on this trip

"While I think Europe needs to find a way to constructively talk to China from a position of strength, what Berlin is doing undermines that position by pursuing its own interests at the expense of the emerging, yet fragile European unity that we've seen since the Ukraine war," she added.

Scholz's visit is seen as a big win for Beijing -- again making critics wonder why the chancellor was endorsing a dictator. Surely he knew what happened when Germany cozied up to Adolf Hitler? Or perhaps he forgot it didn't have a good ending?