As an
Asian-American child, I grew up on many elements of Asian culture as
well. One of these was Japanese Anime, specifically, the many works
of director Hiyao Miyazaki. I saw all of his movies as a kid, and
they will always have a special place in my childhood. More
importantly, the ideas and themes presented by his movies have had a
profound influence on my perspective of life, even to this day. I do
not go a day in my life without relating something I see back to
those movies. There is one particular scene, however, that I will
never forget as long as I live, and that is what people refer to as
the Train Scene in the movie Spirited Away.
This particular segment of the film has a very literal meaning in the
story, but contains so much symbolism and allusions to existence and
life itself. The combination of the motion picture and the music (by
composer Joe Hisaishi) creates the most powerful scene of any film I
have ever seen, despite the absence of prominent dialogue or written
word.
In
Spirited Away, just before the Train Scene, the main character
Chihiro embarks on a personal journey to cure her friend, Haku, of
his curse. She acquires train tickets to leave the spiritual
bathhouse, at which she works, and meet an old woman named Zeniba.
The bathhouse is surrounded by a vast, blue ocean, that stretches off
into the horizon, and the train tracks lie underwater a few feet, but
close enough to the surface to walk on. Chihiro's elder coworker,
Lin, takes her to the train station by means of a small rowboat. They
arrive at the station, which is simply a light stone platform nearby
the underwater tracks, isolated in the calm ocean waters. As Chihiro
and her mute spirit companions wait on the platform, a train is seen
approaching the platform on the underwater tracks, treading through
the water. They are greeted by a silent train attendant who collects
their tickets, and the viewers never see his face. More importantly,
though, when they board the train, there are silent figures seen
everywhere in the various seats. These figures are completely
featureless, colorless, and emotionless—they only sit in silence
and wait. Chihiro and her companions take a seat amongst these
unidentified spirits, completely unfazed by their odd
characteristics. The train rides on into the endless waters, passing
beautiful but lonely views of distant clouds, small islands with a
houses on it, and other train platforms seemingly floating in the
eternal abyss, with more anonymous figures on them. Finally, the
train arrives at a forested area where Chihiro gets off with her
followers; by this time it is night and they were the only ones left
on the train.
Everything
about this scene, every little detail, seemingly has a hidden or
symbolic meaning. The anonymous figures, the color scheme changing
from a light blue and white, to a red and purple, and finally to dark
blue and black, and the lack of dialogue combined with the music all
play a role in creating the spiritual and philosophical images I
believe Hiyao Miyazaki intended to embed in the scene. And I think
there are multiple ways to interpret these various aspects of the
scene, but after years of contemplating its meaning, I have come up
with a few ideas of my own.
The
first detail that should be noticed is the vast ocean which surrounds
the bathhouse, and the submerged train tracks that traverse its
waters. It paints a beautiful picture, but nonetheless creates a deep
feeling of loneliness and isolation. Thinking critically about the
setting, one cannot help but ask questions such as “why is the
bathhouse surrounded by an endless sea?” or “Why are the train
tracks underwater? And why do they lead into the empty abyss?” I
had always wondered this as a kid, but only now do I see their deeper
meanings. The bathhouse represents one's current setting, which, if
you really consider it, is all that matters in the grand scope of
one's surroundings. All that makes any difference in one's life is
where they are at the current time, and the places they know, while
everything around it becomes irrelevant and might as well be an
ocean. Following this theme, the train tracks are submerged because
often the path in one's life is not clear, even though it is
unavoidable. It stretched off into the featureless horizon, being the
only thing seen to the passengers, because all that matters to us is
our own paths in life. Moreover, that is all we ever see. There is so
much going on around us, but no matter what, we are always riding on
our own train, and everything else becomes meaningless to our
existence. The train passes islands and towns floating in this “sea
of life” but never does Chihiro depart the train. It is only our
own destiny which we can ride to, though we often catch glimpses of
alternate realities. These other stations which the train passes
represent the choices we make in our own lives, or more
significantly, the choices we pass up. In the end, we still follow
the destined path laid out before us.
The
anonymous characters that surround Chihiro on the train symbolize our
daily encounters with the other people of the world. Their features
and characteristics do not even matter, only the fact that they are
there. They each follow their own paths, to their own destinations,
but we do not even see them because they are not a true part of our
reality. Only our loved ones, friends, and other acquaintances have
qualities that we recognize and remember. Everyone else merely
becomes a part of the scenery. This idea of isolation and anonymity
is a very cold, dark view of life, and as a child we do not really
see this woven into the context of the film. I remember when I saw
Spirited Away for the
first time when I was really little, not a part of the train scene
bothered me. In a way, it was almost more appropriate to see the
figures on the train as lifeless and unmemorable. Perhaps this is the
way the world seems to us as children, but we don't really
contemplate its meaning. Imagine yourself in a public place, flooded
with crowds of people. In the midst of the crowds you see your
parents, or maybe your best friend. Your recognition of their
presence is unmistakable, but everyone else might as well be just
background noise. The sad part is when you realize that all of them
are people as well, and you are their background noise.
I
cannot help but make another connection in this scene, and that is
the gradual change of color. At first, the images are dominated by
the light blue of the ocean against the light blue of the skies, and
the contrasting white of the clouds. This, being the earliest part of
the scene, represents the beginning, or one's childhood. The almost
dreamlike perfection and lightness of the colors is how we view life
as a child, never seeing the darkness. As the scene progresses, the
hues become deeper and darker, which represents the transition into
adulthood. Our surroundings become more real, and more harsh, but
there is always beauty to reflect on, which is symbolized by the more
opaque images in the water. Finally, the train leaves the vast ocean
and enters a dark world decorated with trees. This, being the last
stop, is the closing of one's life, foreshadowing the dark but
unavoidable end that awaits us all.
What
is it that director Hiyao Miyazaki intended for people to extract out
of this scene? Combined with the music, the imagery used creates one
of the most powerful moments in film, but it is hard to put into
words exactly why. It provokes so much emotion, much of it
discomforting, but it also displays so much truth. For me, what this
scene means to teach us is that there is no point in desperately
trying to understand our own fate. The train will guide us, and there
is no promise of it being an easy journey, but we will experience
colors of all kinds along the way. Not everything will just be
background noise, as we are not alone on the train. Most importantly,
we will eventually reach our destinations, and the ocean of
uncertainty around us will become the trees that protect us, and
those by our side.