HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
© Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Mania Grade: A
Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by: Studio Ghibli
Rating: PG
Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Running Time: 119 minutes
Buy it now!
Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by: Studio Ghibli
Rating: PG
Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Running Time: 119 minutes
Buy it now!
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
By: Nadia OxfordReview Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Can there exist a person who turns everything he touches into pure awesome? Maybe not logically, but Hayao Miyazaki doesn't seem to subscribe to the rules of this mundane world, anyway. Howl's Moving Castle is no exception with its big, blubbery witches, lumbering laboratories and genuinely adorable animal and daemon sidekicks.
For all its unusual imagery and themes, Howl's Moving Castle is actually based on a novel by Diana Wynne Jones. After she's rescued from some rowdy soldiers by the elusive and dashing wizard named Howl, the young and unconfident Sophie runs afoul of a witch in her late father's hat shop. The witch, jealous of Sophie's contact with Howl, casts a curse that ages the 18- year- old by about 70 years. After exiling herself to the outside Wastes, Sophie finds Howl's castle, a hodgepodge creation that moves around on legs. Disguising herself as a cleaning woman, she settles in with Howl, his young apprentice Markl and the fire daemon Calcifer, who implores Sophie to find a way to break the mysterious contract of servitude between Howl and himself.
On its surface--and this anime has a damn pretty surface that seamlessly combines whimsy with Miyazaki's love for steampunk vehicles large and small--Howl's Moving Castle is as light and airy as a fairy tale. Deeper down lie moral themes, both obvious and delightfully subtle. "War is Stupid" lies easily alongside "Have confidence in yourself," and the latter is illustrated through the phases of Sophie's curse. When she has control of herself, Sophie's aging reverses, but she rapidly reverts to an old woman when she's shy around Howl. Similarly, Howl's vanity and greed is explored through conversation and example, but his surroundings reflect his heart as well. His alter-form is that of a giant bird, and his castle (his bedroom in particular) is lined with the shiny trinkets a rook or magpie might enjoy collecting.
Miyazaki's films are known for the obligatorily cute sidekicks that lighten up an otherwise serious film, such as the soot creatures in Spirited Away. Howl's Moving Castle carries on the tradition with a low-riding mutt-dog. Miyazaki's fuzzy inserts are usually a matter of taste; some fans feel they're unnecessary. The dog, however, is impossible to hate. It scampers along on four tiny legs, making that little "click click" sound with its nails that all dog owners are familiar with. Every move it makes, from its breathless bark to the wagging of its stub tail, is one hundred percent doggy and serves to remind the viewer of just how talented the animation crew at Ghibli is.
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