Spirited Away

Spirited Away, the movie that earned Miyazaki his first Oscar, was also the very first movie from Ghibli that grossed more than 10 million USD in Western countries, which sharpens Western audiences' idea of this famous studio. With the sheer scope and ambition of this movie - a type of Asian spin on Western classics like "Peter Pan" and "Alice in Wonderland", Hayao Miyazaki has successfully introduced Asian cultures (and Japanese cultures in particular) to the rest of the world.

In this movie, the main character, 10-year-old Chihiro, crossed a river to arrive at a bewitched bathhouse; if she wasn't careful, she would stay here forever and couldn't come back to her family. This story represents Miyazaki's imagination apotheosis, which is filled to the brim with great visuals and better-than-life characters, slowly unfolding a type of dream-like logic that only Miyazaki could possess.

Unlike some of his later releases, Miyazaki's Spirited Away did not abide by traditional narratives. Instead, it flows from one scene to another in such an enchanting way that we can never predict what surprise is waiting for us at the corner. We can only watch with wonder as the movie leads us from one terrific subplot to another.

Year of Release: 2001

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%