subject: Howl's Moving Castle - Among The Finest Anime [print this page] Entertaining, challenging and thought-frightening, Howls Moving Castle might not be the best movie ever launched, but it surelys simply top-of-the-line of the year. The movie opens with the eponymous citadel of the title parting the mists of the Waste in a simple, but breathtaking introduction. The castle doesnt do anything in this opening sequence however transfer, however boy, the way it moves! A fancy conglomerate of disparate components working together in a frenzy of kinetic vitality, the fortress is nearly Rube Goldbergian in its complexity, setting the stage nicely for the wealthy tale of magic to come. The castle belongs to the type-hearted but self-absorbed wizard Howl, who wanders the Waste in his castle in the useless hope of avoiding involvement in his nations long-operating war with a neighboring state.
During one among his brief forays into a city, Howl pauses momentarily to rescue a younger lady named Sophie from the undesirable attentions of a pair of amorous soldiers. This, sadly, brings Sophie to the attention of the vindictive Witch of the Waste, who transforms Sophie right into a 90-yr-old girl out of spite for Howl. Desperate to interrupt the curse, Sophie hobbles into the Waste hoping to discover a wizard or witch willing to revive her to her former age. She finds herself employed on as housekeeper for Howl and his pig-sty of a fort after which, as they say, the fun actually begins.
Miyazaki infuses the movie with two primary themes widespread to his other movies: condemnation of the futility of struggle, and faith in the transformative energy of love. The continued battle - although unwell-defined within the narrative - continues to develop and progressively attracts even Howl into the fray, despite his best efforts. Fleets of winged airships battle high over the land, and their bombing runs on the cities are so stark and graphic they bring to mind scenes from Miyazaki collaborator Isao Takahatas Grave of the Fireflies. Shapeshifting wizards that started combating earlier on in the conflict have misplaced all traces of their humanity, becoming grotesque, flying toad-like beings, and Howl himself is at risk of shedding himself to a daunting fowl-of-prey form. It is Sophie who intervenes, saving Howl from his determined course of self-destruction, and their emotions for each other grow regardless of the obvious difference in age. Its a situation that shall be acquainted to anybody whos seen Miyazakis earlier efforts, but even so the director manages to tug it off for the most part.
The battle, being undefined, lacks the substance that made the conflicts in Nausica of the Valley of the Wind, Fort within the Sky or Princess Mononoke so effective. Theres plenty of flash and bang, sure, but no real which means behind the carnage. When Madam Suliman acknowledges the pointlessness of the conflict and brings her vast powers into play to attempt to deliver it to an end, she instantly turns into the most important villain of the piece - in retrospect - for perpetuating the warfare for so long.
As shifting because the film is, however, it isn't without some important flaws. Most frustrating is the truth that whereas every magical being Sophie meets recognizes that shes below a spell, none of them make any effort to assist free her. And regardless of this lack of assist, as the movie wears on the curse appears to lose its energy over Sophie at random intervals, a growth that goes unnoticed by the characters and unexplained by the film.
Theres an entire lot that works in this movie. The world Howl inhabits may simply be an early 20th century analog of Austria or any number of imperial European international locations, lush with pomp and circumstance. The steampunk confection of technology and magic is a giddy mix, and the balance struck feels stable and proper.
