Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki was no stranger to making incredible animated movies widely considered to be classics before the 21st century - from Laputa: Castle in the Sky through to My Neighbour Totoro and Porco Rosso, his fantasy realms have wowed a generation of movie lovers. His first effort since 2000, Spirited Away, for many condensed everything that makes his films so appealing into something nothing short of perfection. En route to her new home, young girl Chihiro finds herself transported into a strange ethereal realm of spirits and demons, where gods hang out at a weird bath house and strange dragons fly through the sky. Archetypal in its exploration of the passage of childhood into adulthood - and a great companion piece to the much darker Pan's Labyrinth - Miyazaki's masterpiece has never been bettered, even by the great director himself.
