A plain young hatter named Sophie has her life changed when an evil witch transforms her into an old woman. Unable to face her family in such a condition, Sophie runs away in search of a way to become young again. Along the way, Sophie helps a turnip headed scarecrow, who repays her by leading her to the moving castle owned by the dreaded wizard Howl. There she befriends Howl's apprentice Markl, Howl's fire demon Calcifer, and eventually, Howl himself. Sophie then becomes the castle's cleaning lady in an effort to not only find the solution to her problem but to save Howl from his own terrible secrets as well.

Information:

Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Running time: 118 minutes

Anime Review:

Howl's Moving Castle proved itself to be a very engaging and enjoyable film where not knowing anything about it beyond standard Miyazaki clich helped to make each new scene more interesting.

The main plot revolves around the central idea of freeing Sophie from her spell but it's the kind of plot that reaches out to touch other characters and keep them involved in interesting ways. The cast is very diverse here and very enjoyable. Sophie herself is a great character and one whose changes in age are displayed throughout the film since different actions and interactions change how she looks to herself and others. Howl is an interesting aloof type who is so boyish at times but so serious at others that the pendulum swing of his emotions makes him something to watch whenever he's on screen.

The gradual development of her sweet romance with Howl--love from the heart, rather than physical attraction--is the film's centerpiece, but sadly where it starts to lose steam. Howl, who in the original story was a flagrantly womanizing, overdramatic, self-centered jerk, has been reduced to merely aloof and somewhat vain, and Sophie is likewise a little too girly and not grumpy enough to keep up her end as his foil, making him seem more the knight in perfumed silk than a worthy adversary.

The resulting relationship is sweet, but there isn't enough antagonism between them to evoke the sort of anti-romance of the novel. Even on a more symbolic level, the movie fails to establish Howl as having been too superficial to develop lasting relationships, so it doesn't feel as meaningful as it should when he's able to spend enough time with Sophie to form a connection because she isn't attractive physically.

Aside from the inevitable visual spectacle, the movie's greatest strength is its heroine, Sophie, an industrious, intelligent girl trapped--sadly comfortably--in an old woman's body. The juxtaposition of her innocent charm and girlish sense of wonder with her wrinkled old frame is a wonder to behold, easily making the first chunk of the movie its best.

The animation is equally gorgeous, depicting everything from the huge colorful castle to dark, brutal scenes of all-too-real warfare, to the precise, better-than-life character animation that makes things as simple as sweeping or cooking a pleasure to watch. It is a visually grand movie made for the big screen, so if you have the opportunity you should enjoy it on one.

The music is another pretty orchestral score by long-time Miyazaki collaborator Jo Hisaishi. The light, flowing main theme fits both the visuals and mood perfectly, and while the more dramatic pieces are somewhat less memorable, the soundtrack is spiced up in a couple of spots by more unusual bits--most notably a short, creepy choral piece that provides perfect accompanyment to a semi-abstract magical assault.

Calcifer as the fire demon that powers the castle really steals much of the show though with his attitude and lines. While I'm not deeply attached to the performances on either side of the cast, the Japanese Calcifer works perfectly and comes without the baggage associated with the English language performance. The best performance though comes from the turnip headed scarecrow who is completely voiceless. If ever there was a silent type that enhanced the rest of the cast and could speak volumes in his simple stare and movements, it's this character.

Unlike Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle felt far closer to a lot of the older magical Miyazaki movies I'd seen over the years. Though it benefits from having modern animation techniques that sometimes feel like they're too much with so much flowing on the screen at a time, the pacing and style of it was far more engaging and had me enthralled for quite a lot of it. Avoiding the Nausicaa archetype issue and working with an "older" character as well, it simply provided a more interesting view that didn’t' feel like a retread of previously covered themes while still touching on some of the magic that made them work.

Howl's Moving Castle is the kind of film that makes me wish I had taken to seeing it earlier than I did but knowing that some of the enjoyment comes from being so far removed from all the hype. The film hits so many interesting and nuanced moments throughout it and it fits so perfectly into the kind of visual world that Miyazaki seems to like to create that any initial hesitation about his adapting something from Europe proves to be not worth even a mention.

FANGIRLS will love the pretty boy design of Howl (hee hee).

Grade: A(minus) - It is definitely a very enjoyable film that already has me looking forward to seeing it again in full to notice the little details that I missed the first time around.

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Comments

2 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Joy

October 14th 2006 16:41

I absolutely adored Howl's Moving Castle. It was so non-Miyazaki in the way they actually managed to stay together (I know it was based on a book, but he could have found a way to separate them). I never read the book of Howl's Moving Castle... but after seeing the movie I wanted to. I like your blog, by the way. But I'm more of a lurker than a commenter. I guess I should stop that.

Comment by Cibbuano

February 13th 2007 01:40

20/20 Filmsight
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great review... I didn't enjoy the movie that much, but it was interesting to see...

great work on the blog, btw...I gave you a mention on the Post of the Day.

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