01
2001
2001 · Hayao Miyazaki · Japan
Spirited Away
FantasyAnimation 125 min Masterpiece Digital Revolution
A ten-year-old girl must work in a spirit bathhouse to free her parents, who have been turned into pigs.
Why It Matters
First non-English film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Proved anime was world cinema.
Historical Context
Japan's 'Lost Decade' — the film is partly about a child forced to earn in an adult economy.
Historical Forces at Play
Internet Age / Digital Anxiety · 1993
The web prompted questions about identity, simulation, and control. The Matrix, Strange Days, eXistenZ, and Dark City all interrogated what's real in a mediated world.
September 11 · 2001
Post-9/11 trauma shaped a decade of cinema. Superheroes became relevant (Spider-Man arrived seven months after). War films returned. Torture became contested on screen (Zero Dark Thirty). New Yorkers refused to be shown threatened cities for years.