|
After the huge international success of the magnificent
Spirited Away, whichever film director Hayao Miyazaki followed his
masterpiece with was going to be scrutinised more then any other of his films.
Based on the novel of the same name by British novelist Diana Wynne Jones,
Howl's Moving Castle is another showcase of Miyazaki's charm and
unique talent which, on first appearances, should be a worthy addition to his
excellent previous work. |
Howl opens with a magnificent opening shot of
the beautiful industrialist moving castle and from thereon the story
never stops. We are introduced to the heroine Sophie and then in
turn to the wizard Howl who saves Sophie from the henchmen of the
villain The Witch Of The Waste. Angered, the Witch places a spell
on Sophie which turns her into a ninety-year old woman and, just to rub
salt into the wound, Sophie can never tell anyone of the curse which
prevents her asking Howl for help. |
|
The story then moves
quickly with Sophie setting out into the hills to find a way to lift
the curse. She stumbles across a live scarecrow who leads her
to the moving castle owned by the wizard Howl. Here Sophie
meets Howl's companions - his younger apprentice and the fire demon Calcifer and she takes on the role of cleaning lady to be closer to
Howl. From here on we learn more of the horrific war in which
Howl refuses to pledge allegiance to either side, Sophie's inner
feelings as well as the mysterious link between Howl and Calcifer. |
|
After the fantastic first hour though, everything
suddenly changes when Howl is summoned to see the King's head
sorceress Sulliman to be enlisted to fight the enemy. This
dialogue-heavy scene is brilliantly executed and changes the entire
feel of the film as the coincidences of the war are to similar to
the current situation with America and Iraq. The war in
Howl essentially sees Sulliman bombing countries who's policies
she does not agree with and sees his wizards turning themselves into
hideous monsters to fight, even though they will be unable to turn back. |
The war metaphor continues with characters
commenting on civilian suffering caused by blanket bombing and
'magic' bombing which seems to refer to the technical weaponry of
the US army. Also the war is controlled by Sulliman, not the
King which echoes the theory that Bush is a puppet leader, just as the
King is in Howl. Add to the above that Sulliman
believes that she is doing right and that it is a 'just war' and you
will find that the coincidences are to similar for Howl just
to be a message that all war is wrong, instead that it is a metaphor
for that the current stance of the US is wrong. This is certainly unusual
for Miyazaki as he has always claimed that he would never put
a political message in any of his films, but I feel with Howl
that he has which makes Howl his darkest film yet.
After the confrontation with Sulliman the fun of Howl
certainly continues with Howl's motley crew, but seeing Howl fight
against both sides in the war (at the risk of turning into a monster
himself) makes for powerful viewing. The second half goes on
to explain the unique relationship between Howl and Calcifer before
coming to a surprisingly abrupt - and disappointing - ending.
Extras |