Hauru no ugoku shiro

I went to see this film with my anime and Diana Wynne Jones-loving teenage daughter. And while I enjoyed the film immensely due to its excellent animationstory and overall sense of funit was also interesting to see how much my daughter hated it! It was as if we saw two entirely different films. Why? Wellshe is a huge Diana Wynne Jones fan and has read and re-read just about everything she ever wrote. Andaccording to herthe story was so different and so inferior to the book that she disliked the film and said some very nasty things about director Miyazaki. Howevermy advice is DON'T read the book and just go and see the movie. Thenafter enjoying itread the book ONLY if you are 100% sure you can do this without freaking out because they are so different!! I didn't know the difference and had a great time seeing the film!

"Howl's Moving Castle" opened here in France on Jan. 12th (as "Le Château Ambulant," natch)and I saw it at an avant-première. As a raving fan of Miyazaki and of Diana Wynne JonesI feel lucky to be an American living in France -- I see there's no release date announced yet for the U.S. Sorryfolksand blame Disney!

I understand the feelings of viewers who have criticized the movie as trite. I find it's less imaginativein terms of character development and emotional profunditythan Miyazaki's best masterpieces. Howevereven a pedestrian Miyazaki movie is infinitely more richfrighteningimaginative and humane than any six Disney films put togetherand there's a lot to love in "Howl's Moving Castle."

I am glad I didn't reread Jones' book before seeing the film; even going on my six-year-old memory of the novelI can see the movie's a very loose adaptationand I think Jones fans would do best to try to take the movie on its own merits instead of looking for a faithful adaptation. That saidMiyazaki is surprisingly successfulat momentsin capturing the richness of the novel's characters: the peculiar co-habitation of charm and terror in Howl the sorcerer and his demon companion Calciferand the pragmatic strength of will that makes us love Sophiethe protagonistwho embodies both the fairy-tale archetypes of the young girl and the old woman at once.

Miyazaki's directorial trademarks are here in spades. Most of them lend strength and power to the film: his passion for open landscapeshis vision of the power and horror of warthe uncompromised way his movies work to empower childrenand especially girls. A few of them are just Miyazaki quirks that fans will recognize with amusement (walrus mustachescobbled European squaresand flying machines for everyone!) Richer and strangerthoughare the very successful integration of two things that Disney animation never even approaches: the way even a children's story can blur lines between an enemy and a friendand the cohabitation of the monstrous and the sublime. Enemyallymonsterbeloved: Miyazaki gives both visual and moral weight to these disturbing contradictionsand certain scenes in "Howl's Moving Castle" evoke a frightening sublimity I have never seen elsewhere than in "Princess Mononoke."

I think the film suffers from a slightly hurried paceespecially with respect to the protagonists' character developmentand the result is a loss of the subtlety that makes Jones' book such a gripping fairy tale. Her Howl is more ambivalentand her story is a more complex investigation of adolescent heartlessness and the growth of the heart. The endingwhich falls back too much on clichéd imagery and deus-ex-machinaalso could have been better handled. All that said"Howl's Moving Castle" contains lots of treasures and willI thinkstand up to repeated viewings. Miyazaki fans will be delightedand kids around the world should be given the chance to taste this latest richrespectful children's tale. (Be warnedthough: there are moments as terrifying as those in "Princess Mononoke," and younger kids will need their parents with them.)

On a final noteas few hardcore fans of Japanese anime will need to be remindedthe movie is doubtless best seen in its original version with subtitles. The Japanese voice acting is terrific -- although the voice of "young Sophie" doesn't strike me as anything specialthe actors playing the aged SophieHowland especially Calcifer are fantastic. Calcifer is a magnificent creation and should delight even the most conservative fan of the novel. I have serious doubts that the inevitable English-language dub will do the nuances justice.

A very cinematically beautiful film with characters you just fall in love with. I won't liethe plot is very hard to follow. If you've read the bookyou can tell that miyazaki focused less on following the plotmore on making the film beautiful to watchand as a result we are left with a story that has huge chunks missing and frankly doesn't make a lot of sense in places. But I'm not madbecause it is veryvery beautiful to watch.

What an amazing achievement! This is by far the best example I have ever seen of animated characterization. The expressions and the nuances and the emotion captured in this film are truly breathtaking. I love all of Miyazaki's workbut in Howl's Moving Castle he has managed to take it to a level that to me sets the standard.

It has all of the classic stunning Miyazaki panoramasrich settingsexciting and unusual machineryand brilliantly conceived creatures that are often humorous and fanciful. The characters are all very expertly crafted and developedbut what really enchanted me were their expressions and the subtle but powerful ways that he chose to elaborate on their connections and emotions. It is very difficult to describebut they come to life in such a powerful way as to seem entirely real and unique.

He achieves this within the medium - not by really imitating or parroting film or live actionbut by artfully exploiting the medium to enhance and capture the subtle interactions that make up relationships. He shows his audience what his characters are thinking and feeling by carefully chosen gestures and facial expressionsrather than relying always on dialogetc. I was completely swept away by this skillful use of animation - I have never anywhere else seen anything that begins to come close to it.

The story is fantastic - I haven't read the novelbut it had all of the elements I have come to enjoy in Miyazaki's work - there is the humourthe lighthearted momentsthe stronginsightfulloyaland honourable charactersthe lyrical drama and action sequences. The pace is perfect - it flows nicely and is always excitingsuspenseful - I got very caught up in the characters and their struggles and hopes. The themes were expertly handled with Miyazaki flair - and always richly meaningful and perceptive.

I can hardly wait to see what this brilliant artist creates next!

I think this is possibly Miyazaki's most intriguing movie. All of his other films are very linear and even though their highly varied worlds may be visually stunning and highly creativeI feel the dreamy world of Howls Moving Castle is by far the most captivatingbizarreand imaginative of all the worlds Miyazaki has ever envisioned.

What I love about this movie is that it's highly emotional without a great deal of logic or plot or story to get in the way. In this way the film is simplepureand extremely beautiful. It is as if the characters go from one emotion to the nextin a world that is as random as one's own dreams. Some people have complained about the lack of plot or story or serious character developmentbut even though the characters are fairly statictheir emotions and the physical changes they undergo as they go through these emotions brings out a higher truth that is seldom given such artistic and natural freedom.

I think this is a very smart movie in many subtle ways and it's one that I look forward to watching again on the big screen and then on DVD. Although it flirts from theme to theme to theme with a kind of animated attention deficit disorderthe landscapes and utter unabated surrealism left me stunned and never bored.

Alsofrom a quizzical character design perspectiveHowl is certainly one of if not the most beautiful characters that Miyazaki has ever created. Howl is an interesting departure from Miyazaki's more classical wabi-sabi anime that most of his heroes and heroines are drawn in as Howl is definitely a very contemporary bishonen.

If you're looking for quaint settingsdynamic characters and a very involving character or plot driven storyyou're not going to necessarily find them herebut you will find an equally stunning and pleasing movie if you let yourself go and enjoy this passionateheartfelt and surreal Miyazaki dream.