Review

Review Date: 12-June-05
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Howl's Moving Castle (English version) (2005)

At a recent showing of Howl's Moving Castle I was seated near a teenage boy and his parents, an aged couple with matching white hair, and a pair of young lovers on an afternoon date, all of whom gushed about the movie on the way out the door. (The lack of little 'uns was explained by the big parade going on outside.) Nowadays lots of films claim to be perfect for the whole family, but few deliver as much as Hayao Miyazaki's lush concoctions of timeless themes and marvelous visual effects. His magic works on anyone who appreciates fairy tales and images of beauty; and this, I hope, will forever be a large segment of the population.

As with Miyazaki's last film, Spirited Away, the central idea of Howl's Moving Castle is the healing power of love. The protagonists are a wallflowerish maiden named Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer) and a commitment-phobic wizard named Howl (Christian Bale), who inhabit a magical, vaguely European kingdom in the throes of war. Early on, Sophie is cursed by a witch (Lauren Bacall) into becoming an extremely old woman, a transformation which mirrors her self-image as an unattractive spinster doomed to watch life pass her by. (After this change Sophie is voiced by another screen legend, Jean Simmons.) Fleeing into the wilds, she locates the strange ambulatory residence of the notorious Howl and makes herself at home amongst his companions, a cute lad who's apparently his apprentice (Josh Hutcherson) and a fire demon who's somehow linked to his power (Billy Crystal). As they share each other's trials and tribulations (involving air raids, flying machines, a devoted scarecrow, and a wheezing dog), Sophie and Howl come to see themselves in a new light, and in time they forge the kind of bond that's stronger than any curse.

For me the most endearing quality of Miyazaki's work is the way it fosters a childlike sense of wonder. Watching Howl's Moving Castle, I could not predict what was coming next or think of anything more pleasant than sticking around to find out. This movie acts upon you — stirring emotions, expanding your mind — in the same way that first favorite book did when your mom or dad read it before bed. (Indeed Howl's Moving Castle might have been that first favorite book, since it's based on a work by Diana Wynne Jones.) A good fairy tale wears its outcome on its sleeve (there are absolutes, sure things in this world), but it depicts getting there as an odyssey to fill the imagination. In this vein, every scene in Howl's Moving Castle is a discovery (I was particularly entranced by Howl's bedroom), yet every discovery, in the end, is familiar. Love, friendship, security : these have always been mysteries worth seeking, and Miyazaki's fantasies paint the quest as an adventure for us all.

Copyright © 2005 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.