Today’s quick review: Howl’s Moving Castle. Howl’s Moving Castle is considered one of the best works from Hayao Miyazaki, a famed Japanese animation director whose films are known for their charm, creativity, and attention to detail. Howl’s Moving Castle tells the tale of Sophie, a young and levelheaded hatmaker who runs afoul of a witch and is cursed to become an old woman. Unable to speak of the curse, she goes to seek the aid of the capricious wizard Howl, who lives in a castle that walks about the wilderness on giant mechanical legs. While Howl does not immediately help her, he does let her stay in the castle as his maid, and she becomes part of a small family: Howl’s captive fire demon, his young apprentice, and a helpful turnip-headed scarecrow who followed Sophie to the castle. As she delves deeper into Howl’s life, she finds that the powerful wizard is harboring secrets of his own.
Howl’s Moving Castle is a strange and interesting movie. The magic that permeates it gives the movie a sense of wonder and mystery while allowing Miyazaki’s imagination to frolic on the screen. From a scarecrow hopping along on its post to a door that opens on four different locations to the enormous walking castle itself, the movie is filled with quirky visuals and creative portrayals of magic. At the same time, the centrality of magic to the plot introduces several holes that wouldn’t exist otherwise. The rules of magic are only explained as they are encountered, making it very difficult to predict the effects of characters’ actions. Furthermore, some rules aren’t explained fully, so that the events that do happen are difficult to understand.
The heart of the movie involves the relationship between Howl and Sophie. Sophie brings kindness and responsibility into Howl’s life and sets about cleaning up both his house and his soul with common sense and diligence. Howl, for all his power, has been running from his obligations, and his inability to face them is eating away at him inside. Toss in a curse or three, a kingdom waging a pointless and destructive war using steam-powered airships, and a few magical adversaries, and you’ve got a rich fantasy in the classic Miyazaki style. The aforementioned confusion regarding the rules of magic in the universe undermines a few key moments in the plot, but overall Howl’s Moving Castle is an excellent movie with gorgeous animation, a richly-textured world, and traces of real insight into the human heart. Give it a watch if you’re looking for top-notch animation with a lot of magic. 8.2 out of 10 on IMDB.