Let's catch that train
Kaonashi is a character from 2001 Japanese anime 'Spirited Away' by Hayao Miyazaki. The word 'Kaonashi' means No-Face/Faceless as this mysterious creature has only a gloomy mask on an ambiguous black body. This strange spirit is so lonely and is so desperate to find a caretaker. Kaonashi finds Chihiro, a little girl but when he finds it difficult to persuade her with bribe, he tries other workers in the bathhouse in which Chihiro is working. Kaonashi blinds everyone with his gold and swallows them all. He then absorbs the characteristics of things and people he ate. Eventually Kaonashi becomes a greedy and grotesque monster with a horrid voice. But in the end, Chihiro helps him to puke everything out. He finds solace in Chihiro's hands and follows her.
This fictional character and the enchanted philosophy it possesses never failed to fascinate me whenever i think about it. There's a reason, or many reasons why I chose this name for my blog. I want to write a lot about Cinema. That's why I started this blog. As a human being and a cinephile I have found a lot of similarities between Kaonashi and me, no, actually with every modern human. We all are empty and lonely as we begin. We have no idea about the world as a whole, but each of us create our own worlds with what we see and listen. Out of desperation we reach out to everything we see and we try to become what we see. We find it entertaining and comfortable as Kaonashi finds himself inside the bathhouse. I do not wish to take this thought to a whole another level, but let's just narrow it down to Cinema.
Does anyone remember why we went to a movie theater for the first time? Anybody ever wondered how Cinema entered a theater? In a way that people watch it as they watch a circus or a magic show. Kaonashi was also lost and had no clue why he was standing there at the bridge to bathhouse till Chihiro showed up. He offered her gold, but she refused it. Kaonashi could not understand it, but he knew that Chihiro is the one he needs. He follows her and breaks into the bathhouse.
Look, now there are thousands and more movies in front of us, like stars in the sky. We are in the world of Cinema. Nobody remembers how or why we got here. How did it all started? Was it out of curiosity? Maybe because of the magic and wonder, or just because of the 'grandness' of it. We bravely went inside that dark room and sat in awe looking at the wide silver screen.
But Kaonashi forgets what he actually wanted, he becomes greedy and grows ugly. He turns the bathhouse into a garbage dump. Every gold he offered to persuade others was actually just mud. Later Chihiro tricks him to swallow a pill and he recovers his old state. He realizes his mistake and accompanies her.
But we are still trapped inside the multiplex trying to find which train to board. Kaonashi is a reflection of human nature, a libido that everyone secretly harbors; says the creator Mr. Miyazaki. Cinema is also a reflection; of our society, our nature, us, you, me, everything. I don't know if Kaonashi is representing us or Cinema or is it because Cinema's ability to reflect us makes Kaonashi a metaphor encompassing both history of Cinema and human nature. But the sure thing is, Cinema has the potential to reflect the past, present and future upon us with any light from any angle. Nonetheless, do we really see it? Or, have they bought us off completely with some fake gold.
We are suffering from a serious delusion that Cinema is for entertainment. We are living in a world where Cinema is considered as an industrial product. Aren't we still getting conned? We can still catch that train and go far away from here. Kaonashi finally reaches there and I too want to go there. Maybe that’s why I named this blog after Kaonashi. I wish to draw a route map here so that we can reach the station before it's too late. Hoping that we can unravel and understand the nuances of the great art of storytelling called Cinema!
Does anyone remember why we went to a movie theater for the first time? Anybody ever wondered how Cinema entered a theater? In a way that people watch it as they watch a circus or a magic show. Kaonashi was also lost and had no clue why he was standing there at the bridge to bathhouse till Chihiro showed up. He offered her gold, but she refused it. Kaonashi could not understand it, but he knew that Chihiro is the one he needs. He follows her and breaks into the bathhouse.
Look, now there are thousands and more movies in front of us, like stars in the sky. We are in the world of Cinema. Nobody remembers how or why we got here. How did it all started? Was it out of curiosity? Maybe because of the magic and wonder, or just because of the 'grandness' of it. We bravely went inside that dark room and sat in awe looking at the wide silver screen.
But Kaonashi forgets what he actually wanted, he becomes greedy and grows ugly. He turns the bathhouse into a garbage dump. Every gold he offered to persuade others was actually just mud. Later Chihiro tricks him to swallow a pill and he recovers his old state. He realizes his mistake and accompanies her.
But we are still trapped inside the multiplex trying to find which train to board. Kaonashi is a reflection of human nature, a libido that everyone secretly harbors; says the creator Mr. Miyazaki. Cinema is also a reflection; of our society, our nature, us, you, me, everything. I don't know if Kaonashi is representing us or Cinema or is it because Cinema's ability to reflect us makes Kaonashi a metaphor encompassing both history of Cinema and human nature. But the sure thing is, Cinema has the potential to reflect the past, present and future upon us with any light from any angle. Nonetheless, do we really see it? Or, have they bought us off completely with some fake gold.
We are suffering from a serious delusion that Cinema is for entertainment. We are living in a world where Cinema is considered as an industrial product. Aren't we still getting conned? We can still catch that train and go far away from here. Kaonashi finally reaches there and I too want to go there. Maybe that’s why I named this blog after Kaonashi. I wish to draw a route map here so that we can reach the station before it's too late. Hoping that we can unravel and understand the nuances of the great art of storytelling called Cinema!
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