Movie Haiku - Howl's Moving Castle

www.howlsmovingcastlemovie.co.uk


Dir: Hayao Miyazaki


Voices: Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, Billy Crystal


Fire makes castle walk

witch's spell makes lady old

can they stop the war?


Spirited Away was the movie that finally introduced the West to the talent of Hayao Miyazaki and the incredible animation of Studio Ghibli. It remains the pinnacle of modern animated filmmaking, an undisputed masterpiece. After a smaller feature (The Cat Returns - given a limited UK release during the Summer) Mayazaki now presents his latest epic - Howl's Moving Castle. This time our protagonist is a young lady by the name of Sophie (Mortimer) who falls foul of the Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall), who casts a spell that turns our Sophie into an elderly lady (Simmons). Exiled to the wastelands she's guided by a pogoing scarecrow (aka Turnip Head) to a mysterious castle where she makes a deal with the fire-spirit Calcifer (Crystal) and becomes the live-in cleaner. Owner of the castle is Howl (Bale), a sorcerer who uses many aliases and is wanted by the King to help fight the war in his kingdom - which Howl vociferously opposes. So... they want to stop the war, Sophie wants to break the spell cast upon her, the Witch of the Waste is after Howl's heart, and who exactly is Turnip Head? Oh yeah, and Calcifer can make the castle walk. So, there's a lot going on here, and much of it sounds pretty bonkers, but that's Japanese fantasy for you - although it has to be said, the film is actually adapted from the children's novel by Diana Wynne Jones. I don't know what it is about Miyazaki's films but it doesn't matter what age you are, you can't fail to be drawn into his colourful world. And what a world it is! Miyazaki's films always have strong, empowered female characters, and what I like about his storytelling is that the lines are often blurred - no character is just 'good' or 'bad', they're multi-faceted, complex individuals who change and conflict with the audience - especially here in the portrayal of the Witch of the Waste. Whilst it's a film that children will enjoy it doesn't patronise or dumb down to a young audience, and it can be appreciated on many levels. The theme of war, and Howl's stand against it, certainly echoes contemporary society and the debates which continue to this day. With Howl's Moving Castle Miyazaki has again demonstrated that he is a master of his craft - the animation is again simply stunning, with his visual tics of open landscapes, cobbled streets and strange flying objects all present and correct. The voices on this dubbed UK release are actually okay - Billy Crystal in particular capturing the playful essence of Calcifer - but some cinemas are screening the original Japanese language version with English subtitles which is likely to be even better, if you can seek it out. It's not quite as unique as Spirited Away, but even so, it totally surpasses any of the Western animated releases this year and is well worth checking out - a delightful movie.

soulmining rating: ****