A woman who works at a bento shop was once a sex worker. She doesn’t mind if people know about her past. There is something special about her, even though she is a little lost. She connects with people that need a helping hand in their lives.
Call Me Chihiro is a slow-paced Japanese movie in which we follow the protagonist as she meets people in different situations. She is like a magnet that helps people, but the problem is that she cannot quite help herself find a direction in her own life.
The atmosphere is warm and charming, and if you love the slow pace of most Japanese movies, you will enjoy this journey with a protagonist who helps many people and becomes like a mother to some of the characters. She is so endearing that she could be anyone’s mother!
Call Me Chihiro is a well-acted movie with Kasumi Arimura giving a fantastic performance in the lead role as a charismatic protagonist. I really loved this character, and there are some strange but funny scenes when she gets into a fight with a young boy who needs to clean his mouth with a bar of soap. The boy is angry and rude, and he needs a woman in his life who can tame him and make him understand he is a little boy who needs to be disciplined by the hot protagonist. Oh, sorry!
The protagonist does not reveal much about her past. She will always be a sort of mysterious character, and even though she has a lot of spirit, you can feel that she is lost and sad.
Some viewers may not understand the movie or find the protagonist’s journey interesting enough. That’s fine, and I do not care about your personal preferences. Call Me Chihiro is, in the end, a charming and heartwarming movie about a magnet who draws in lost souls, and when she has fulfilled her purpose, she lets the characters go so they can find direction in their lives again. But the magnet must find another magnet who can draw her in and help her find a direction in her life.