Let me be clear: as much as I wanted to like this film, I just couldn't. There were quite a few issues that many people seem to overlook.
I'll admit, I'm a sucker for slow-paced arthouse dramas. Call Me Chihiro should have left me with a wide smile but it doesn't. There are many arcs that are opened and left incomplete. There are many questions that aren't answered. For instance, why is the schoolgirl taking photos of Chihiro in the early scenes? What drove her to do that? We never get to know why she did it. Some might say, that's inconsequential, but it is. If the directors finds it fit to introduce his characters in an odd manner (the schoolgirl certainly is stalking), the reasons matter.
Parenting is at the core of Call Me Chihiro. We see various examples of bad parenting. And, in later scenes, we see the children of these parents rebel but these arcs are incomplete. We don't get a scene where the parents react to this rebelling. Do they accept their flaws, do they openly talk about it with their kids, we don't see it. There are a couple of scenes where one of the parents confronts Chihiro but the same parent doesn't address this with her own child. The film is full of visual metaphors that convey the feelings of the characters which help us read the room but while these add to the story arcs, it feels like you've been robbed of a good ending to these arcs.
I'm also not sure why the protagonist takes it upon herself to bury an old homeless man on her own. Why can't she call the authorities and report the passing of an old homeless man? And, how is it that even when a blind patient is missing from a hospital, no one seems to call the authorities.
The film attempts to find the same vibe as Amelie or Happy-Go-Lucky but it doesn't reach that because while there are some quotable lines, it just doesn't work the same way it did in Amelie or even Ladybird.
Call Me Chihiro at best is a middling letdown. Despite breathtaking visuals and interesting characters, the film's screenplay forgets much of the drama it creates and it exists in a strange and uneven realm.
I'll admit, I'm a sucker for slow-paced arthouse dramas. Call Me Chihiro should have left me with a wide smile but it doesn't. There are many arcs that are opened and left incomplete. There are many questions that aren't answered. For instance, why is the schoolgirl taking photos of Chihiro in the early scenes? What drove her to do that? We never get to know why she did it. Some might say, that's inconsequential, but it is. If the directors finds it fit to introduce his characters in an odd manner (the schoolgirl certainly is stalking), the reasons matter.
Parenting is at the core of Call Me Chihiro. We see various examples of bad parenting. And, in later scenes, we see the children of these parents rebel but these arcs are incomplete. We don't get a scene where the parents react to this rebelling. Do they accept their flaws, do they openly talk about it with their kids, we don't see it. There are a couple of scenes where one of the parents confronts Chihiro but the same parent doesn't address this with her own child. The film is full of visual metaphors that convey the feelings of the characters which help us read the room but while these add to the story arcs, it feels like you've been robbed of a good ending to these arcs.
I'm also not sure why the protagonist takes it upon herself to bury an old homeless man on her own. Why can't she call the authorities and report the passing of an old homeless man? And, how is it that even when a blind patient is missing from a hospital, no one seems to call the authorities.
The film attempts to find the same vibe as Amelie or Happy-Go-Lucky but it doesn't reach that because while there are some quotable lines, it just doesn't work the same way it did in Amelie or even Ladybird.
Call Me Chihiro at best is a middling letdown. Despite breathtaking visuals and interesting characters, the film's screenplay forgets much of the drama it creates and it exists in a strange and uneven realm.