Chihiro

I'm not sure what's the point of the movie "Call Me Chihiro" or "Chihiro-san" in Japanese. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad movie - it's not - but it does make it a strange movie - which it definite is. And much of that strangeness is due to the titular main character, Chihiro.

I've known only a handful of care-free or free-spirited people like Chihiro. And of those very few choose to live in Japanese if they can help it. The society and culture simply do not encourage or tolerate such people. So it is not at all unbelievable that someone like Chihiro can exist.

What's a bit difficult to believe, however, is that a person like Chihiro could maintain her attitude towards life and others for so long without being crushed by the pressure to conform or the very real stigmatization that happens all too often. In Japan, people get ostracized for much less.

The other major characters are also very familiar - a shy high schooler, a homeless man, a very young kid whose parents are mostly absent. Then there are the minor characters like a group of working-class guys who are Chihiro's groupies. None of them come off as being mean, broken, or hopeless.

So I suppose "Call Me Chihiro" is more like a fantasy. It is what a better society can look it, if we really want it. In that sense, this is a feel-good movie - Japanese style, of course - and as such I think it works.

Well, this is a really fine example of feel-good cinema that doesn't attempt to be anything else. The screenplay moves at a leisurely pace, letting the protagonist and the supporting characters leave a mark in our minds for just being WHO THEY ARE! There's an air of strangeness to Chihiro who has a way with words, is quick to get people to be on her side, and comes across as a floating cloud. The film showcases her interactions with various folks including a lovely stray cat, a homeless man, an elementary school kid and his mom, a high-school girl, her colleague/friend from an earlier profession, her ex-boss, the people at the bento shop she works at, a motherly figure she keeps visiting at a hospital, and more such.

Every interaction has something to add to Chihiro, who cherishes them with her whole heart even if that involves physical pain (like being stabbed with a compass) or the pain of loneliness (like not caring for the aspect of long-term companionship in love). Kasumi Arimura is a total delight in the role of Chihiro, and how she treats the people around her and the ways she finds happiness in little things, is something worth cheering for. She has come to terms with not finding romance, but has no qualms about offering love in all other forms they come. The changing weather of the town (from quiet to windy to rainy), the scumptious-looking bento plates, the laughs shared between Chihiro and her pals - this is one of those films that doesn't resort to anything superficial to paint a picture of goodness.

A very calm and introspective movie. Definitely not a movie for a more dramatic audience but rather realistic. For those who can enjoy and understand the complexity of human interactions, beliefs and many times social circumstances.

Exceptionally educative, transporting the viewer to the onion layer that represents Chihiro's life and the ones that end up interacting with her.

Although we never get to fully grasp about her real past and what took her to prostitution, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters it's her way of being and how she faces life and takes other's on a love and compassion path.

Just that simpler has that, even if she had grown differently she wouldn't be more special than what she already was. To me it says it all and is something that I will most certainly take close to my heart.

This is a movie about how the former sex-worker Chihiro, now working at a bento shop as a sales person, helps those emotionally in need who come her way from all ages and also how she connects them with each other. Perhaps her approach has something to do with the Geisha culture which seems to be based on things more than sexual attraction. Good acting in general. Little physical action but some emotional ups and downs. The Japanese society is more hierarchical than those in other developed countries and family ties are stronger but they also suffer quite a bit from loneliness and this movie shows how some of them try to deal with it (or unable to) without being pessimistic.

Don't get the wrong idea about this movie based on the synopsis! This is a fantastic feel-good movie! Super nice and relaxing. Watching it is like therapy. It's full of beautiful sounds and scenery, Chihiro being nice and helping all kinds of people deal with their troubles (and being helped in return), and it is comfy and sometimes funny, without unnecessary drama. I think it's really sad some people can't enjoy relaxing healing movies like this, and call them "boring" and "the worst movie they've ever seen", giving the movie a rating of 1...Clearly it's not meant to be an action movie...Someone also said it has no emotion, which I really can't understand, since this movie is FULL of emotion! Anyway, if you're looking for a nice feel-good movie, definitely watch this one! I absolutely loved it!