Film fans tend to listen to Martin Scorsese whenever he gives his opinions on cinema, as he’s one of the greatest living filmmakers on the planet. Sometimes those opinions are relatable, like when Scorsese revealed the reason why he doesn’t go to movie theaters anymore. Others, such as the infamous interview where he referred to Marvel movies as “theme park rides“, caused discourse that has lasted to this day. But Scorsese’s deep love of movies cannot be denied. He’s been fairly vocal about his favorite films, whether they’re classics like Akira Kurosawa‘s High and Low or more modern films like I Saw The TV Glow. One of Scorsese’s frequent collaborators, Leonardo DiCaprio, would actually introduce him to the work of another filmmaker who’s been deemed a legend in his own right — Hayao Miyazaki.
DiCaprio and Scorsese sat down for an interview with Letterboxd to discuss the films that influenced their work, following the release of Killers of the Flower Moon. While most of the interview is dedicated to the films that Scorsese screened for DiCaprio before they started working on a project, DiCaprio revealed that he actually screened Spirited Away for Scorsese. “I was asked what films I introduced to you, but considering you’ve seen every film ever made up until 1980, it’s pretty hard to say. Other than, maybe Spirited Away, Miyazaki’s films, and maybe Princess Mononoke,” DiCaprio said, to which Scorsese responded: “It was Spirited Away you told me to watch.” While Scorsese didn’t give his full opinions on Spirited Away, DiCaprio couldn’t have picked a better film to introduce him to Miyazaki’s work.
‘Spirited Away’ Is Hayao Miyazaki at His Best
Spirited Away follows a 10-year-old girl named Chihiro (Daveigh Chase), who is moving to a new house with her parents. But when her father takes a shortcut, Chihiro and her parents are trapped in a world populated by spirits. They can’t leave, as the witch Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette) has transformed Chihiro’s parents into pigs and literally stolen her name. Spirited Away has everything that defines Miyazaki’s films, including stunning animation, a truly unique coming-of-age story, and mystical elements that are a huge part of the story. When Chihiro enters a bathhouse, many of the tubs are filled with otherworldly creatures, including a group of ducks that seem to literally melt in the water. Other beings, including the shadowy No-Face and the mysterious Haku (Jason Marsden), who transforms into a dragon, have become some of the most iconic figures in Miyazaki’s work. It also continues Miyazaki’s layering of different themes into his work, as Chihiro’s parents transforming into pigs is a rebuke of Western-style consumerism.
For Miyazaki, Spirited Away was a labor of love. He developed the film based on the summers he spent with his family, and said that he wanted to make a film that would appeal to the ten-year-old girls who befriended his family. “I created a heroine who is an ordinary girl, someone with whom the audience can sympathize,” he said when discussing the inspirations for Spirited Away. Spirited Away would even influence another filmmaker, as then-Pixar chief John Lasseter convinced Disney’s then-head honcho Michael Eisner to work on the English dub of the film. The end results paid off, as Spirited Away ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; it remains the only hand-drawn animated feature that won the award.
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Leonardo DiCaprio Named Another Hayao Miyazaki Film as One of His Favorites
It’s no surprise that Leonardo DiCaprio chose to introduce Spirited Away to Martin Scorsese, as DiCaprio has long been a fan of anime. Not only was DiCaprio once attached to produce live-action versions of Akira and Ninja Scroll, but he’s listed Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke as one of his favorite films of all time. Princess Mononoke has a strong environmental message within its story, matching DiCaprio’s commitment to reducing climate change. As for Scorsese and Miyazaki, the two filmmakers almost did cross paths back in the day. Steve Alpert, the former head of Studio Ghibli’s international division, revealed in his memoir Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man: 15 Years at Studio Ghibli that Miyazaki turned down the opportunity to have drinks with Scorsese. Regardless, the fact that DiCaprio managed to get Scorsese to watch one of Miyazaki’s best films is nothing short of amazing.
Spirited Away is available to stream on Max.