Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Written by Diana Wynne Jones & Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by Toshio Suzuki

by Robert Kohr

After many months of waiting in anticipation of this films release, Disney has finally let out Miyazaki’s newest feature film. I was fortunate enough to see “Howl’s Moving Castle” in Italy this past winter at the Future Film Festival in Bologna. The theater was packed for the premiere with many Italians as well as other international filmmakers and press. Regardless of such a discerning crowd, everyone still erupted in a cheer when the blue Totoro popped up on the screen to signal the start of the film.

An average teenage girl named Sophie works in an early 20^th century hat shop. Her otherwise ordinary life is thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a mysterious wizard, Howl. The Wicked Witch of the Waste, a former lover of the wizard’s, then transforms Sophie into a 90-year old woman. The enfeebled Sophie then embarks on an odyssey to lift the curse and uses Howl’s magical walking castle to discover why she is this old women as well as learning to accept her transformation and fall in love with the wizard.

Like many of the other films that Miyazak has directed, the story of “Howl’s Moving Castle” is like a layer cake. The main story, which involves the microcosmic relationship between the characters and then a macrocosmic relationship to the world in which the characters inhabit. Miyazaki creates closeness between Howl and Sophie, which at first is one that resembles a mother and a son’s relationship. Later as Sophie begins to accept her form and then their relationship evolves into that of a couple falling in love. All the while the characters ad constantly aware of the war that is unfolding around them.

Ghibli (the animation studio responsible for Howl’s) produces some of the highest quality animation coming out of Japan today. Although Japanese animation is surging in popularity in the States it has yet to come mainstream. Still many American audiences regard Japanese animation as a cheap imitation of the more fluid Disney animation or a more primitive form of animation, in relation to Pixar’s art. Unfortunately this will likely prevent this film from getting widespread release. Japanese animation is generally lower budget (usually one sixth of the cost of an American film) and emphasizes complex story over pure eye candy. Where all the big American animation studios are pressing out 3d films, Asia is still holding on to the 2d technique and pumping out 5 times more films than the US. If there were any studio to break the mold and push this terrifically enchanting art back to the forefront it would be Ghibli.

Howl’s Moving Castle is pure adventure and escapism; Miyazaki immerses you into his world. Parts of the film are slow, to some these will be seen as elements that enhance character development. Much more so than a Disney film you begin to empathize with the main characters and want them to succeed. Personally my favorite of Miyazaki’s films was his first, “Nausicaa, The Valley of the Wind”. But I feel that the animation in his later work, “Princess Mononoke” was much more developed. Unfortunately, I don’t feel that the animation in Howl’s Moving Castle was all that impressive. Stylistically I would have to tie this film more into Miyazak’s films from the late 1980s and early 90’s, namely “Porco Russo” and “Kiki’s Delivery” service. For all the technological advancements that they made in 2d animation and integration of 2d and 3d it seems that this film has taken a step back. I had very high expectations for this film and left the theater somewhat disappointed the first time I saw it. However when I saw it again in English the film was a lot easier to follow and was enchanting. It was nice to see this film on the big screen but it will more likely become a DVD classic rather that a huge theater success.

I had the pleasure of meeting Miyazaki for a moment at the MOMA premiere in New York. I asked him what advice he would give young independent animation filmmakers. He thought for a moment and said “Make really good movies and work really hard at it,” then he added, “being poor, being young, and having no name is the best way to become a great creator. That’s what Mao Tse-Tung said.” This is Sage advice from an animation master and definitely something to mull over a bit.