James Kim goes down a similar route with Pin Point as Hayao Miyazaki does with his masterpiece, Spirited Away. Both feature a young girl as the main protagonist, who is struggling to escape from her disturbing surroundings.
Spirited Away has been classified as a PG. I could only just cope with watching it... and I am 22. Pin Point travels to whole new realms of freaky.
It opens with the little orphan at the graveside of what we can safely assume to be a friend, and we quickly discover that the orphanage caretaker has been poisoning and killing children. As the film progresses, the subject matter becomes more and more sinister.
Spirited Away was a film that I could relate to, as it tapped into the fears and nightmares I had as a child without crossing any lines. It was also beautiful in many ways, from its themes to its animation.
Pin Point did not have any of these redeeming features. The animation was all right, but certainly nothing special, or even good. The music worked, but was nothing original. But worst of all, the plot appeared to have no point.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for ambiguity in films and subject matter to make the audience think. But unless the message of this film is "let's combat child abuse through Voodoo magic", then there is no message. And if there is no message, then this is a film about child abuse for nothing more than entertainment's sake.
Is it just me, or is that a little unnerving?
View Pin Point here.
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