Call Me Chihiro – 2023 Movie Review
Call Me Chihiro is a calm and introspective journey through lonely souls looking for their soulmates. An apparent slow movie that is full of meaning and humanity. Let us guide you through this story and share our impressions with you.
We scored Call Me Chihiro 7.5 out of 10. In our analysis, we are going to tell you why. Please, keep reading and then let us know if you agree with our review.
Summary of the post
- Why should you watch Call me Chihiro?
- Trailer
- What did we like – (Spoilers begin)
- What we didn’t like
Why should you watch Call Me Chihiro?
Released in 2023, the film teaches us powerful lessons about family, life, forgiveness and compassion. It’s a drama about loneliness and how it is so difficult to find someone like you. The manga by Hiroyuki Yasuda, Chihiro-san, inspires the film.
It’s a movie made for those who can understand self-development and the complexity of human relationships. Growing as a human is a complex task, but if you do it with the right mindset and heart, it may actually be lovely. It’s a pure lesson of kindness with some twists. That’s what Chihiro and her people will teach you.
Trailer
Movie Details
| Release Date | February 2023 |
| Country | Japan |
| Genre | Drama |
| Duration | 2 hours and 11 minutes |
| Director | Rikiya Imaizumi |
| Actors | Kasumi Arimura (Chihiro) – Hana Toyoshima (Kuniko) – Tetta Shimada (Makoto) |
| Streaming | The film is currently available on Netflix. Check this link to discover where you can watch it in your country. |
What did we like about Call Me Chihiro?
The healing journey of lonely souls
The film is a healing journey where we learn about loneliness and how to heal ourselves while helping others. It’s a movie that we need nowadays, where consumerism and a fast pace rhythm of life don’t offer us the possibility to look inside ourselves and listen to our hearts.
We loved Chihiro’s attitude to smile at life and not be afraid of her “dark past”. She is full of love even if her heart suffers the pain of loneliness. Chihiro constantly helps all the people around her, putting aside her pride to offer a chance at redemption to someone.
Chihiro is an example of strength and kindness.
She forgives and welcomes in her life Kuniko and Makoto. Chihiro doesn’t care if Kuniko is spying on her or if Makoto stabbed her. She accepts the reaction of Makoto’s mum, despite the fact she didn’t anything to hurt them.
Chihiro’s mission is to help other people have what she couldn’t enjoy: a family and someone who could take of them and share a simple “yes, this is nice”.
And her method works, at least on other people.
Kuniko takes care of Makoto and bonds with Betchin. Makoto and his mum restore their relationship. Tae can leave the hospital and enjoy the rain and a heartwarming hug. Several characters change their initial position, but loneliness doesn’t leave Chihiro.
Chihiro’s failures left us surprised.
What made us sad was Chihiro’s reaction to his brother and to her mum’s death. We understand that her mum wasn’t an example to her, but why teach forgiveness to everyone and forget to apply it to your loved ones?
Chihiro is a broken heart full of love for life running in her veins. In the end, Chihiro is human, therefore, not perfect. We should try, at least, to don’t commit her same mistake.
Even her idea of love and sex tells us that she wasn’t able to manage love. As Chihiro said, it’s like a person who can’t drink alcohol; if it makes you sick, you drink water. And it’s a powerful metaphor.
We are Aliens in human bodies.
It’s what an ex-Chihiro customer told her. We all come from different planets, so we can’t understand each other. That’s why we need to find the aliens that keep us alive. Precisely like Chihiro did, finding Tae, the mum she never enjoyed, and the other characters she brings into her life.
Chihiro loves food.
Food is what makes Chihiro happy, probably because she is able to taste each ingredient with the same joy and desire to discover it. And this is a strong metaphor for life. We should taste life, each moment it offers us, as Chihiro does with each ingredient on her plate.
We loved this journey in all of its meanings. But it’s not everything good, and it’s time to talk about the negative aspects of the movie.
What didn’t we like about Call Me Chihiro?
Photography and Cinematography
The film is slow, as we mentioned. On one side, this is fine because we are talking about an introspective movie. On the other hand, the film could last less than two hours because it feels like we have too much silence.
We feel that the film could be better edited, providing intensity to the drama. The sensation is that it would have touched more people and hearts.
Even photography could be better developed. We don’t aim at the perfection of “The Power of the Dog“, but the camera could have brought better pictures, landscapes and beauty.
Conclusion
The film is beautiful, not perfect, but a strong recommendation for anyone looking for self-development and love. Chihiro restarts her life in the end, erasing her prostitute past and starting from new foundations after what she learnt.
Therefore our final rating is 7.5 out of 10.
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