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| Hisaishi |
Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi): (Joe
Hisaishi) Few animators in the history of cinema have been as acclaimed
as Hayao Miyazaki, king of the Japanese anime genre in the 1990's and
2000's. While not known widely outside of Japan in comparison to
animated competition from America, Miyazaki's films are known for
several consistent distinctions of quality, including vivid visual
representations using techniques not reliant upon computers, a keen
sense of storytelling in his own scripts, and an environmental agenda
that often works its way into the stories. As in many comparable Studio
Ghibli productions, 2001's
Spirited Away is a film of both
surprising length and content able to entertain children and adults over
that time. Larger explorations of the topic of identity are the focus of
Spirited Away, a young girl and her parents inadvertently
transferred to a realm of spirits and bizarre creatures where the
parents are turned into pigs and the girl needs help from the strange
inhabitants of this foreign universe to free her family and return to
the real world. It's a story that refreshingly avoids the pitfalls of
predictability that usually restrain the effectiveness of many animated
tales. One of the greatest ironies in the world of animation is the fact
that Walt Disney Pictures acquired the rights to distribute Miyazaki's
films in the United States, often disgracing their own catalog when
offering the usually superior Japanese releases. After some
disgruntlement with how Disney handled the translation and distribution
of the Miyazaki hit
Princess Mononoke a few years earlier, Disney
took great care in how it dubbed and promoted
Spirited Away,
earning a surprising but widely rejoiced Academy Award for Best Animated
Feature in 2002. One of the other reliable consistencies involving
Miyazaki films is Joe Hisaishi's music for them. After decades of
collaborations, the international spotlight placed on Studio Ghibli
through the wide distribution of films like
Princess Mononoke,
Spirited Away, and
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea gave
Hisaishi's music an overdue audience outside of Japan. While he is
prolific in his compositional career in all genres in his native
country, Hisaishi's output for the animated genre has created a unique
voice in the realm of children's music that is difficult to compare to
any other film music composer. His airy and whimsical tone and almost
Golden Age-style of melodic grace make his music instantly recognizable,
and
Spirited Away is no exception. One of the primary reasons
Spirited Away remains a popular score among Hisaishi collectors
is precisely because of its embodiment of the composer's trademark
animation sound.
Because of its free-floating spirit, the work shares
far more sensibilities with
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea than
Princess Mononoke, both an asset for the majority and a potential
annoyance for others. Hisaishi has the capability to maintain a carefree
atmosphere of innocence better than perhaps any Hollywood composer,
utilizing elegantly swaying themes in a rather shallow orchestral
environment to suggest an additional element of simplicity and
innocence. Film music enthusiasts unfamiliar with his style will be
interested in the application of a handful of the score's fuller
percussion and brass cues, including the last thirty seconds of
"Nighttime Coming," a burst of energy reminiscent of John Williams'
lesser known 1970's material. Although slight synthetic accents are
employed at times,
Spirited Away is a score of symphonic
sunshine, carried by a theme for the primary character that is defiant
in its optimism without ever openly declaring its determination. The
throwback melody on piano (performed by Hisaishi himself) is the obvious
highlight of the score, conveyed in flighty tone early, referenced
frequently in melancholy shades in the middle, and flourishing with
orchestral accompaniment in the final two score cues. Other themes
include a strictly symphonic one of equal buoyancy for the tale's
fantasy elements, a strikingly discordant series of jagged chords on
piano for the sorceress Yubaba, a surprisingly lighthearted march for
the bathhouse at the center of the fantasyland, and a few percussive
motifs of bubbly and occasionally clumsy personality for the characters
within. The entire package is crisp in its performances and creative in
its use of the ensemble and soloists; Hisaishi's piano is often forced
into duty at both the highest and lowest reaches of the instrument
(exemplified best by Yubaba's theme). A lack of strong connections
between these themes is the score's main weakness, encouraging the
listener to grasp the lovely reprises of the girl's theme throughout the
album presentation. With the consistency that "Reprise" and "The
Return" finally bring to the score's flow on album, it's no surprise
that these moments translate into such fine concert representations.
While Hisaishi never allows the score's brightest moments to jump with
the wild enthusiasm of the old Warner Brothers masters,
Spirited
Away does feature plenty of sudden shifts in direction. Another
problematic aspect of the score is its anonymous structures in these
middle passages; although they function well in every circumstance, they
don't carry the narrative on album as effectively as hoped. This is
likely due to the fact that Hisashi's handling of the minor-key mode is
so unconvincing. Still,
Spirited Away offers ten to fifteen
minutes of Hisaishi at his best, and a series of identical Milan Records
albums in 2001 and 2002 joined a plethora of Japanese products devoted
to the score (including a limited specialty item and an "image" cover
album) at about the same time.
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The insert includes lyrics for the song and extensive credits.
