Hi, this is Steve.

John and I have been doing the cinephiles now for almost exactly seven years, and yet

despite the hundreds of films we've covered, they remain important filmmakers, movements,

or even whole genres that we've barely touched.

Well this week on the cinephiles we plan to fill at least one of those gaps by entering

the strange, profound, moving, and fundamentally unknowable world of Studio Ghibli and the

great Hayao Mizaki.

The film is spirited away, and it's one of our most requested movies.

Now for those of you who've never watched a Mizaki film, you are in for a real treat

as they are truly a vision unto themselves.

It's not just that the designs and worlds are beautiful, although they are, nor is it

that he creates strange, wondrous, and endlessly surprising characters, although he does.

It's that the films of Mizaki have a way of living on in your mind, long after the credits

have rolled.

It is that ineffable, unknowable quality that separates Mizaki from any other filmmaker

working today.

He and his incredibly talented team have created essentially a genre unto themselves.

So if you haven't seen this remarkable film, we recommend a journey into the spirit world

of cinephiles.net where you can buy or stream spirited away, along with every other movie

we've ever reviewed.

This is definitely one of those films that seems to become deeper every time you revisit

it, and we can't wait to discuss it right here on the cinephiles.

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