Choosing Masks

I was delighted to watch Spirited Away again since it's been a while. I remember in one of Napier's chapters, she talks about this film being one of excess, and I think No Face truly embodies that in his character design and personality. Talking in class about the concept behind No Face really got me thinking about his purpose in the film. What is he about, exactly? He acts as a mirror, taking in and regurgitating actions and intentions, such as greed and gluttony. In the bathhouse, he takes on a persona that seems poisoned and irregular. Being around others who feel trapped by material items and wealth changes No Face into an abuser of the system to get what he wants, which is company. He learns quickly the values of the bathhouse community and uses them to fill the void that exists in him for companionship. Chihiro specifically mentions to Lin as they make their way to the train stop that No Face only acts as a monster inside the bathhouse, but outside he was friendly and fine. There is a clear barrier being crossed and defining of two different societies. Chihiro is in tune with No Face's ability to be both useful and also destructive. It's unclear though exactly how she knows what situations No Face is destructive in or not. She places a trust and forgiveness in him that no other person does besides Zeniba.

Demons and Curses

It's been a while since I had seen Princess Mononoke and seeing it now allows more connections and actually makes more sense than before. I didn't know before that the title was actually a derogatory one that means Princess of the evil spirits; I always interpreted Mononoke to hold some sort of mythic, grander meaning that was in fact honorable.

I'm conflicted about how I feel about San, actually. There's something so compelling about her history and the fact that she was raised by wolves is a category of myth in its own. Miyazaki animated her beautifully and there are many moments where her role as the main shojo character is unclear. She is nice to look at, sure, but especially when she sucks the blood from her mother's wound at the stream, there is a sense of something being offbeat about that image. She's posing, being admired from afar by Ashitaka, but also at her most guarded. With blood smeared on her face, she stares without faltering. It was an uncomfortable and confusing moment for me and in general, I see this snapshot a general summary of her overall character.

San is also appealing because she bridges the gap between human and nature in terms of communication and habit. It's a mystery exactly how she speaks with her wolf siblings and Yakul, or at least how she listens to them. While Ashitaka and the audience can hear the gods and certain animals speaking, it is different when the animals remain quiet on screen. Are they actually speaking, but we aren't privileged to listen in? At certain points, we can hear San's wolf siblings talk, but all we see is growls and teeth. Miyazaki seems to only create snippets of their thoughts, but I wonder about the other moments.

Gina of the Adriatic Sea

I really enjoyed Porco Rosso primarily because of the different animation style that Miyazaki implemented in creating Gina's character as well as others at the hotel. The quality of this animation was of a different caliber, and almost more serious than Miyazaki's usual style of outlandish facial expressions and bodily reactions. It gave the overall story of the myth a more romantic quality, especially in setting up the various romantic tragedies in the film. The Gina character overall is of interest because she seems to have so many layers to her character, yet she rarely makes appearances throughout the film. As someone mentioned in class during discussion, there is a sad and lonely quality to her despite all the attention and adoration she receives for her beauty and singing. She seems to have known loss on many different levels and while she continues to move forward with her life, has yet to resolve her sorrow from her first husband, nevermind the other two. Her attachment to Porco Rosso is strange and ambiguous at first as the audience is unsure if their established bond is romantic or not. Porco definitely does not reciprocate her affection, which posits a paradox of the beautiful, yet "broken" woman.

Gina is also an entrepreneur, it seems, as she runs the hotel and lounge for seapilots. She seems accustomed to the scandal that exists hand in hand with dealing with seapilots, but she is also able to maintain her hotel with high standards. There are definitely class issues at hand in the film, as Gina, and maybe even Porco at one point, came from a well-off tier in this Mediterranean society while Fio and the other seapilots seem to be from not as well off. Though there also seems to be a loneliness tied with this higher class, as both Gina and Porco "fly solo" while the seapilots all bicker and fight as siblings in a family. Similarly, Fio lives in great company with her extended family as all the women come together to both celebrate and combine workforces in the airplane shop. This is a great sense of absence in both Gina and Porco and it never is fulfilled in the film, despite the ambiguous ending where it is hinted that Porco is transformed again into a human.

Overall, I loved the film. It was a great first experience watching it!