Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle, released in 2004, written by Hayao Miyazaki, and animated by Studio Ghibli. The film was originally distributed by Toho (Godzilla fame) in Japan, and in 2005 Disney/Pixar did an English dub and released it to American audiences. The book is based on, or well inspired by the novel of the same name by British author Diana Wynne Jones. The film was also greatly inspired by Miyazaki's disgust at the US invasion of Iraq, and his staunch anti-war stance. There are also great themes of female empowerment, as well as a refreshing statement about age acceptance. Miyazaki is often criticized for his political/social/environmentalist statements in his films, that can almost come across as preachy at times. Anyone who knows me knows, that these exact things are what I love the most about his films. This film is no exception to this. The film discusses how war destroys the earth and the life on it, the film talks about how flight is an amazing and beautiful thing, but can be perverted and made ugly as well, as in the terrible flying warships. I love how Miyazaki makes these statements in this film, how beautifully he illustrates is points, without causing the plot to suffer. Miyazaki is a true master storyteller. The characters that he creates in this beautiful film, are all so well done, and for the English dubbed version Disney/Pixar assembled an amazing cast of voice actors including Christian Bale as Howl, Billy Crystal as Calsifer, as well as film legends Jean Simmons as older Sophie, and Lauren Bacall as The Witch Of The Waste, and the beautiful and talented English actress Emily Mortimer as the young Sophie. All of the voice actors were so perfectly cast for their roles, and their voices have so much feeling and heart, and really bring to life their characters. This film received mostly positive reviews by critics, but some critics such as Roger Ebert gave it some pretty negative reviews. The negative reviews seemed to really focus on the as they said meandering plot, that seemed too dense and kept losing itself. I honestly have seen this film dozens of times, and have never gotten that impression from watching it. I don't know if it is an American view of story telling, and that because I have watched so much anime and read so much manga that I don't notice it, or if it is just that the critics that said those kinds of things just didn't get what Miyazaki was trying to say and do with the film. The majority of us critics found the film beautiful and hold it in high esteem. Speaking of beautiful, the animation by Studio Ghibli in this film is absolutely breathtaking. The beautiful illustrations of the natural world creates beautiful back drops to this amazing tale. This film is also a classic in the steampunk genre, mixing elements of industrial revolution with a futuristic vision. This film is just stunning to look at, every scene filled with so much amazing beauty that it is hard to take one's eyes off the screen. The story is well thought out, and beautifully done by master story teller Hayao Miyazaki. He paints this beautiful tale of a young woman caught up in witches curses and the affairs of wizards, while living in a backdrop of a war where the lines between "good guys" and "bad guys" has seemed to have been lost. But Sophie turned old by a witch's curse never gives up, and never loses her outlook on life to a "woe is me" attitude that many would have in a similar situation. Sophie is this voice of reason in a world that has seemed to lose its reason. She is part grandmotherly, but still at times youthful and filled with hope and passion. She is a character who is both passionate and compassionate, giving love even to those who should be her enemies. The compassion that she shows to the Witch Of The Waste is something I feel that we should all learn from. She is firm and strong, but she is also tender and forgiving, which are admirable traits in a hero. I do say that she is the hero of the film, even though she isn't out physically fighting off enemies the way that Howl is, she is heroic in the way that she keeps everything and everyone together when things have all gone to shit. This is a beautiful film, and like in many of his films, this movie is empowering to women of all ages, and shows that strength does not belong exclusively to the young. Would I recommend this film? Yes, this is a film that should be watched by audiences of all ages from babies to great-grandmothers this film is inspiring and empowering. The themes of this film are portrayed in a way that it can be appreciated at all ages, as a wonderful beautiful fantasy for kids, and as a beautiful film with important anti-war and women empowerment themes for older crowds. Just such a wonderful film in every way, and a film that I am continuously finding my way back to over the years. This film has always held a very special place in my heart.