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Howl's Moving Castle
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki and Rick Dempsey
Starring: Christian Bale (Voice)
Genre:
Animated/Foreign
Run Time: 119
min.
Release Date:
June 2005
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Having
little experience in the Anime realm, I have to admit I’m probably not
the most knowledgeable reviewer to examine a film such as this. But what
I do feel I’m fairly qualified to do is to evaluate
stories. Animated or not, films are a valued method of reaching out to
viewers and creating entertainment.
Although HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
had some great animation and interesting concepts, the story was so
nonsensical in so many places that I found myself shaking my head
wondering why I was watching it.
The story (if I’m not mistaken) is about Sophie, a young milliner (hat-maker)
who lives a mundane life until she’s afflicted by a curse put upon her
by the (initially) evil Witch of the Waste. The curse comes in the form
of age, turning Sophie instantly from a vibrant young girl into an
ancient old hag. In order to break the spell, she must find Howl and his
moving castle. But with the curse comes the added insult that she cannot
tell anyone about it. So once our heroine meets up with Howl, she’s
unable to tell him what she needs and instead becomes the moving
castle’s housekeeper.
Within the house she finds a young boy who wants to be just like Howl.
She also meets and befriends the power that helps keep Howl’s castle
constantly on the go: a type of fire called Calcifer. And with the
castle comes a multitude of problems: Howl’s carelessness and
difficulties of "the heart", a war against outside forces, and the
threat of the Witch of the Waste.
Again, the animation in the film was great. It was excellently colored
and moved in an almost Van Gogh-ish fashion across the screen. But oh
the story!
There’s never an explanation given as to the war that is constantly
circling this strange land. Why and how it got started are never fully
explained, even though much screen time is given to the machines of war.
Why and how the young boy who lives in Howl’s castle came to be there
are never explained either. Nor is any explanation given to the powers
of Calcifer, the fire that drives the castle (the ending touches on it
slightly but very ineffectually.) There are plenty of other
non-sequiturs but those are the biggest. Too bad, really, as there were
some great voices amongst the cast ...from Christian Bale (THE
PRESTIGE), Billy Crystal and Lauren Bacall just to name a
few.
I don’t mind films that leave a certain amount of exposition up to the
viewers interpretation, but there needs to be some rhyme and/or reason
for the basic constructs of a movie. Howl's Moving Castle left me
howling for too many explanations.
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Image from Howl's Moving
Castle
DVD cost: $25.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Hayao Miyazaki and Lauren
Bacall, both long-time fans of each other's work, met at a subtitled
screening in New York. Reportedly, Bacall jokingly asked Miyazaki if he
was married.
Movie Quote: "This
is a magic house."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Howl's Moving Castle
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