Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle

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rating:
list price: $29.99 USD
Amazon price: $21.49 USD

Amazon Review:Like a dream, Howl's Moving Castle carries audiences to vistas beyond their imaginations where they experience excitement, adventure, terror, humor, and romance. With domestic box office receipts of over $210 million, Howl passed Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke to become the #3 film in Japanese history, behind his Spirited Away and James Cameron's Titanic. Based on a juvenile novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle marks the first time Miyazaki has adapted another writer's work since Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). Sophie, a 19-year-old girl who believes she is plain, has resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop--until the Witch of the Waste transforms her into a 90-year-old woman. In her aged guise, Sophie searches for a way to break the Witch's spell and finds unexpected adventures. Like Chihiro, the heroine of Spirited Away, Sophie discovers her hidden potential in a magical environment--the castle of the title. Using CG, Miyazaki creates a ramshackle structure that looks like it might disintegrate at any moment. Sophie's honesty and determination win her some valuable new friends: Markl, Howl's young apprentice; a jaunty scarecrow; Calcifer, a temperamental fire demon; and Heen, a hilarious, wheezing dog. She wins the heart of the dashing, irresponsible wizard Howl, and brings an end an unnecessary and destructive war. The film overflows with eclipsing visuals that range from frightening aerial battles to serene landscapes, and few recent features--animated or live action--offer as much magic as Howl's Moving Castle. --Charles Solomon

The Many Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki

The works of Miyazaki

The Book

The Art of Howls' Moving Castle (book)

Stills from Howl's Moving Castle (click for larger image)

Lynn's Review:

Hayao Miyazaki seems to take as his theme over and over again the coming-of-age of young girls. More than most directors, he understands girls deeply. And while anyone of any age or gender can watch his films and enjoy them, there is something special about them for girls.

In this variation on his favorite theme, Miyazaki tells the story of the teenage Sophie, a girl who falls under the enchantment of a jealous witch when she becomes accidentally involved with the handsome sorcerer Howl. The spell turns Sophie into an old woman. Howl lives in a "moving" castle that stalks about the countryside, Baba Yaga-like, on chicken feet. Sophie becomes his housekeeper, and the story of how Sophie and Howl save each other from their enchantments--and in the process, their kingdom--is the film.

As much as I love Spirited Away, I think I might love "Howl" even more. Miyazaki's heroines are plucky but not obnoxious, kind but not syrupy, doubting, brave--they're real girls, who face fantastical (and yet real) hardships and come out the other side understanding more about themselves and the world than they did going in. This is a beautiful, beautiful film, and every Miyazaki fan--or family with daughters--should own it.