Film Review • Structural Theories & Storytelling

 

Trying to decide whether a film is a 3 or 5 act structure can be strange but I've decided to pick Sprited Away (2001) as the film I want to place as one of these, I believe its a five-act structure.

The prelude being when her and her family are introduced, when they're driving to their new house, and turn the wrong way, up until the point her parents become pigs.

The protasis is when we see what happens to the parents, see the spirits arriving, and meeting Haku, Kamaji, and getting a job with Yubaba.

The epitasis is the various tasks given by Yubaba, the cleaning tasks, the big tub scene in general where Yubaba is just spiting our main character giving her difficult tasks and making her deal with clients that no one else wants to deal with.
Within this section she lets no face in.

The catastasis could be when no face is a giant monster eating everybody and at that point in time a huge problem for everyone, this could also be when our main character leaves to find Zeniba.

The catastrope is when Haku comes back healed up and our character gives him back his name, taking Yubabas final test resulting in her getting her parents back and being able to return to reality and giving her freedom to leave.

It has a closed ending, the main character and her family have returned home to just live out their lives as they were going to in the beginning without taking the wrong turn, the difference now is our main character Chihiro is more confident about the new beginning shes about to face with starting a new school and making new friends.

Joseph Campbell's Heros Journey in this film:
(these are all theoretical)

Call to adventure
Moving to a new place and starting a new school.

Supernatural aid
Taking a wrong turn, finding shrines with what Chihiro says 'the wind is pulling us in'

Crossing the first threshold
she states that shes not going to go but ends up following her parents, the structure leads to a meadow and a river that crossing it leads to the ‘spirit realm’.

Belly of the whale
The belly of the whale is when they go in too far, and the parents start to eat food in stalls they find, which leads to them being turned into pigs leaving the main character on her own.

Road of Trials
Trying not to disappear
Getting into the bathhouse
getting a job to be able to stay and find her parents
forgetting her name and getting it back
cleaning the giant tub
helping the spirit

Meeting the Goddess
Yubaba is the goddess shes the one in charge, therefor the 'god' of the place, she is also a powerful witch.

Temptations
No face is a temptation, he lures the other characters in with gold and eats them, taking the tempting offer would result in getting eaten.

Atonement with the father
When she is being shown her parents and promising to help them

Apotheosis
Falling in love with Haku, this gives her the power to continue, to help him and try her best.

The ultimate boon
Her dream about not knowing which pigs are her parents and gift from the river spirits a ‘solution’ to them being pigs, which is Medicine that she uses later to heal Haku and defeat no face when he's being greedy.

Refusal to return

Magic Flight
When she returns and takes the final test.

Rescue from without
Haku making the deal that if he brings back Yubaba's baby she will tear up Chihiro's contract and free her parents but only if she passes a 'final test' 

Crossing the return threshold
Once she's freed Haku guides her back not letting her look back.

Master of two worlds
Remembering Haku's real name, and having the protection band woven by the characters that have come to love her and help her.

Freedom to live
She gets in the car with her parents and they drive home.