Me llamo Chihiro

If you like movies about real human connections, simple in a good way, with no over dramatic plots and twists, this is for you. Don't expect fast pacing and a lot of crazy action. Expect beautiful shots where you can appreciate the interactions and nature.

It follows the stories of characters with different backgrounds and ages that are interconnected through Chihiro, an ex-sex worker who now tends at a bento shop, has a beautiful smile, and can befriend people (and animals) easily. You see part of their lives, problems and how they're impacted by one another. Deals with themes of nihilism, solitude, broken relationships, death, love and kindness.

If you're a "movie sleeper" don't watch. I on the other hand, liked that it took it's time, felt the joy and sadness of the stories and ended up with a feel good lightness even though the ending was bittersweet for me.

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.

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.

First of all, this movie can only happens in Japan. Chihiro, an ex sex worker with no drug and alcohol addiction, no tattooes and no foul mouth, that retired from her"dark past" just like snapping your fingers and still maintained positive attitude.

Her ex boss was also retired from sex industry to open a tropical fish store, and still maintained a good relationship with her. Basil, her friend from her past job, occasionally came to Chihiro's house to have a few drinks and talked about the past. Chihiro also befriended a stray cat, an old bum, two beautiful high school girls, a nine year old boy and got flirted (politely) by a bunch of factory workers who passed by her workplace every afternoon. Tell me if that's not a perfect world, what would that called?!

Later in the story, we learnt that many characters were struggling with their own problems. Some were heavier than others, but nonetheless it's still problems. How Chihiro coped with her problems and how she affected people around her was the heart of the story, and it was a really heartwarming one.

Heartwarming 8/10.

Beautifully complex, open-hearted examination of the human condition- particularly of loneliness and the urge to connect with a world full of strangers who are much more likely to misunderstand you than not. The initial hook describing the main character Chihiro as a former sex worker turns out to be almost completely "irrelevant" to the story. It's not what you (may have) thought this film would be about. It's about learning to appreciate every fibre of every human being you meet - a feat most people aren't actually capable of.

This is film of quiet contemplation, quiet conversation and quiet thoughts - the fact that most of the film has no music soundtrack allows you to truly absorb and appreciate every character's words and underlying motivations, particularly of course, of Chihiro's, as she gracefully glides from person to person, reflecting their inner goodness in her own.

I rated this 9 until I reached the end. It deserves a 10.