The cloaking fog whispers away from the huffing mechanical shaped bullfrog, making its way up an alpine pasture on a set of sanguine chicken clawed legs; it’s the type of organic-hydraulic design that is apt of Hayao Miyazaki. Freely adapted from British author Diana Wynne Jones’, Howl’s Moving Castle is another masterpiece in the Studio Ghibli collection.
Meet Sophie Hatter, a teenage girl who resigns herself to her dull fate as a hat maker, until she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome-yet-mysterious blue eyed wizard named Howl (voiced by Christian Bale). Unbeknown to Sophie (voiced by Emily Mortimer), her tedious hat maker life is about to be turned on its head by the self-couture-conscious Witch of the Waste (voiced by Lauren Bacall), who transforms her into a 90 year old woman (voiced by Jean Simmons). Spellbound and sworn to supernatural secrecy she embarks on an incredible journey to lift the curse, and finds refuge in Howl’s enchanted moving castle. It is here she befriends Howl’s spirited apprentice Markl (voiced by Josh Hutcherson) and the combusting castle carrier Calcifer (voiced by Billy Crystal). Sophie’s presence transforms Howl, sometimes literally, helping him overcome his self-absorption and loneliness. However, while Sophie is content playing house, the burgeoning war of wizards looms ever closer on the horizon and it isn’t long before she is fighting for more than her youth, but her life.
Miyazaki’s distinct interpretation on classical fantasy creates a neo fantasia version of the Wizard of OZ, complete with its own scarecrow, cowardly ‘roaring lion’ and impetuous illusions. The bulky citadel that houses Howl is junk, even the inside is not impressive. Yet, it is a piece of meticulous magical machinery, mobilised instantaneously by the whizzing pipes and strained bolts that are strewn across its body-how it stays together is a complete wonder- which is incidentally apart of its charm. Arousing the curious child within you Miyazaki interchanges worlds through a simple doorway of mystical brilliance, the setting offers a multitude of numinous enthral from the detailed high court industrialised towns; that favour nineteenth century Europe to the open vistas that will beguile minds young and old alike.
In an industry so rapidly expanding his loyalty to hand drawn animation is testament to the talent once revered so highly and is often richly forgotten in exchange for PIXAR rendered fairytales. Miyazaki stamps his definite mark on this fantastical story and highlights social complexities in his characters which symbolise how you can be overcome by narcissism, greed, beauty, and age. Sophie triumphs over this through endurance, humour and humane sincerity, maturing as she switches between old and young. On the other hand, the story falls short of the epic narrative you may expect from his previous works ‘Princess Mononoke,’ nevertheless the visual wonder in this fable of the struggle for identity and the impulsive tangle between love and war, is a journey worth taking.
4.5/5
