Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し

Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) is the best film I've ever watched. It is the highest grossing film of all time in Japan.

..labeling it a masterpiece almost seems inadequate
-New York Post-

this is one of the greatest animated films ever made...
-John Lasseter (Director, Toy Story 1 and 2, Bug's Life)-

Spirited Away is the pinnacle of animated fantasy
-45th International San Francisco Film Festival-

Winner Golden Bear - Best Film
-Berlin Film festival 2002-

Winner Academy Award - Best Animated Feature
-75th Academy Awards 2002-

..the animated film that blew titanic out of the water
-BBC News-

beauty, power, mystery and above all, heart
-James Cameron(Director,Titanic)-

Spirited Away is a film by the Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli, written and directed by famed animator Hayao Miyazaki. It has all the elements that a film should have. Love, Friendship, Trust, Care, Evil, Fantasy, Loneliness, Baby LOL, Parents and bla bla bla. Everything is in it. It makes me cry and it makes me smile. I've watched it no less than 5 times. Once in Mandarin, twice in English and Cantonese. Never failed to entertain me each time i watched it.

The film is about Chihiro, a ten-year-old girl, traveling to her new home in Tochinoki, Japan, with her parents. They were lost when her father takes a short cut. The family pulls up outside a large, mysterious building. Ignoring Chihiro's objections, the mother and father decide to go in and explore. Chihiro reluctantly follows them through a tunnel to a strange landscape of grassy hills and old-fashioned buildings. Chihiro's father says that it is an abandoned amusement park.

The parents were curious and decide to explore. They soon smell food cooking, and follow their noses to a deserted stall full of food. Chihiro refused to eat anything, but her parents helped themselves and soon begun gorging on the food.

Chihiro wandered off and found an enormous bathhouse, the heart of the complex. She encountered a boy who warned her to leave before dark. She runs back to the food stall, only to find that her parents have turned into pigs.

As night falls, shadowy spirits filled the place. Chihiro is frightened, but the boy appeared again and promised to help her. The boy, who introduced himself as "Haku", helped Chihiro sneak into the bathhouse and instructed her to go to the boiler room and ask for work. He warns her that the owner of the bathhouse, the witch Yubaba, could kill Chihiro for trespassing. If Chihiro can get a job, she'll be able to stay at the bathhouse safely while he figured out a way to help her parents.

The boiler operator, Kamaji, seems gruff but eventually warms to Chihiro. He instructed a bath attendant named Ling to take Chihiro upstairs to ask Yubaba for a job. With Ling's help, Chihiro navigated the halls and elevators of the bathhouse. Chihiro realized that the place is a resort for spirits of all kinds.

Yubaba, a giant, bejeweled old lady, initially refused to hire Chihiro. She threatened the girl, but Chihiro's persistence pays off. Yubaba finally gave in and offered Chihiro an employment contract, but in exchange Chihiro must gave up her own name. Yubaba magically removed most of Chihiro's name, leaving only the syllable "Sen".

Under her new name Sen, she began to work as a bath attendant with Ling. Sen encountered a number of strange customers, such as a masked spirit called "No Face" and a filthy "stink spirit". The latter was a wealthy but polluted river spirit, who rewards Sen's efforts in cleaning him with the gift of a magical medicine.

Sen soon learns that all is not as it seems at the spirit bathhouse. Sen's coworker Lin warned her that Haku is Yubaba's henchman and that she should not trust him. Sen also discovered that Haku is actually a flying white dragon. Meanwhile, the spirit No Face became obsessed with Sen’s attention and attempted to become the bathhouse's most important customer.

One morning Sen saw the flying white dragon, Haku, being attacked by paper birds outside the bathhouse. She open the door to let him inside. Bleeding badly, he flew up to Yubaba's room. Sen ran to find Haku, worried that he might be dying. No Face saw her and offered her gold. Sen refused it and continued on her way. No Face becomes enraged and started swallowing the bathhouse workers.

Sen arriving in Yubaba’s quarters and encountered Yubaba's overgrown baby son, Boh. Yubaba's twin sister, Zeniba, also appeared and said Haku because he stole her golden seal.

Sen, Haku, and Boh escape from Zeniba and wind up in the boiler room with Kamaji. He told Sen that Haku is bleeding from the inside, perhaps from something he swallowed. Sen gives Haku part of the magical medicine she received from the river spirit. This caused Haku to vomit out Zeniba's gold seal. Sen decided to go to Zeniba to return the seal and apologized on Haku's behalf. Kamaji gave Sen train tickets so she can travel to Zeniba's home.

On her way to the train station, Sen confronted No Face. She gave him the remainder of the magical medicine, hoping this will end his madness. No Face began to vomit out everything he has eaten. This included the bathhouse employees he swallowed, who appear unharmed by their ordeal. As he disgorged everything he has eaten, No Face gradually returns to his original slender shape and meek demeanor.

Meanwhile, Haku recovered and resumed his humanoid form. He finds Yubaba and pointed out that her son is missing. He promised to return Boh to her if Yubaba will turn Sen's parents back into humans and send them and Sen back to their world.

Sen, Boh, and No Face took the train to Zeniba’s house. Sen found out that Zeniba is actually a kind woman and not as greedy and wicked like her sister. Zeniba was happy to have her seal back and forgave Haku. She assured Sen that Haku has already been cured by the power of Sen's love. Haku himself soon arrived in dragon form to take Sen and Boh back to the bathhouse.

En route to the bathhouse, Sen remembered falling into a river when she was a little girl. She would have drown, but the river's water carried her to safety. Sen realizes that Haku was the spirit of this river and told him his true name is Kohaku River. Upon hearing his true name, Haku regained his memories of the past. He is now freed from Yubaba's control.

Haku, Sen, and Boh arrived at the bathhouse to find that Yubaba has prepared a final challenge for Sen. She must find her parents from a group of pigs. Sen examined the pigs and declared, that none of them are her parents. Yubaba released her from her employment contract, and Sen regained her true name, Chihiro.

Chihiro said goodbye to Haku and traveled with her parents back to the human world. Chihiro's parents remembered nothing of what has happened, and were surprised to find their car dusty and the area around it overgrown with weeds. It is unclear whether Chihiro has any memory of her adventures in the spirit world, but she seems more positive than before.

Here's the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSr9wqXeBb0

Here's some screen shot from the movie