Spirited Away

This film is generally regarded as Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, and it may well be. It's about a girl who gets trapped in the spirit world after her parents are turned into pigs. She is forced to get a job in a bath house where spirits come to relax and clean up. There's some definite wonderment going on in this mythical fantasy tale as Miyazaki dazzles the audience with array of unique and imaginative characters. The heroin starts the film as one of Miyazaki's most annoying protagonists, but soon is humbled and grows into one of his most likable and complex characters. As usual it is not a simplistic black and white world, but one in which choices are made and even antagonists can make good choices as can the hero make bad ones. It's myth-making of rare intelligence that exposes most American childrens entertainment for the useless superficiality that is primarily is (including Disney from recent years).