Howl's Moving Castle review
Being a big fan of anime, I was excited to hear Hayao Miyazaki's latest work, Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro) was being given a limited release here in America. Miyazaki-san has been called the "Disney of Japan" and it's no wonder: his works and that of his animation studio, Studio Ghibli, recall the innocence and wonder of Disney's greatest works like Bambi, Dumbo and Pinocchio. His latest doesn't disappoint.Howl's Moving Castle is about a young girl named Sophie, who is living out a rather mundane life when she is cursed by a witch and is transformed into a hunched and brittle 90-year-old. Looking to free herself of the curse, she travels into the wastelands, where she finds herself aboard, yes, a moving castle, owned by a wizard rumored to eat the hearts of young girls. There she meets a fire demon, Calcifer, who is also cursed and bound to Howl in some way (as a rule of their respective curses, Calicer and Sophie cannot reveal what their curse is). Sophie makes a deal with Calcifer that if she breaks his curse, he must break hers. Adventure follows, with Sophie falling in love with Howl and Howl struggling to fend off the darkness within his soul. It's a beautiful movie, set against the backdrop of two warring countries, a device that for the most part works, although we don't find out much about the war, other than the fact that it was started over a missing Prince.
I highly recommend this movie, although it shares many similarities to Miyazaki-san's past work, especially Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), so if you didn't like that one, you probably won't like this one. Just as in Spirited Away, the protagonist must find the strength within herself to break a curse (the curse on herself in Howl's, the curse on her parents in Spirited). Evil characters become cute sidekicks (Witch of the Waste in Howl's, Yu-baaba's baby in Spirited). The flawed and dangerous male, with a curse that threatens to consume him (Howl in Howl's, Haku in Spirited, Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke, for that matter). All these similarities don't take much away from the enjoyment of the movie, however. Although I think Spirited Away is the stronger flick, there are plenty of original ideas and many scenes of breathtakingly beautiful animation to keep your eyes occupied for the duration. We just don't get animation with this much imagination here in America anymore. Well, maybe we get a little of that magic from the Pixar movies. But certainly not from Disney, Dreamworks, Blue Sky or the rest of them.
This one will be a definite addition to my library when it comes out on DVD, although it will have to take a place behind My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) and Spirited Away, being as those two are my all-time favorite Studio Ghibli works.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home