A review of the anime, Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle draws together themes of identity, love and the futility of war into an extraordinarily vibrant and creative film with a steam-punk edge. Fans of Ghibli, young and old, will love this 2004 animation but it's also an accessible introduction to the world of anime.

Sophie

Though Howl steals the title, this is really a story about Sophie-a reclusive, young woman who is transformed into an old lady by the Witch of the Waste. Sophie sees her new age as an opportunity to take chances and abandon her safe, responsible lifestyle in favour of adventure. As she remarks to Howl, 'the good thing about being old is that you've got so little to lose'. The curse provides a literal device by which the character, who had always treated herself as old, learns to be young; a process visually incarnated by her increasing youth in moments of passion and honesty. Her new-found determination takes her to the dangerous Wastes were she boards Howl's Castle changing forever the life of its peculiar inhabitants.

Howl

The titular Howl is a great wizard but a childish man. He fears responsibility and hides behind several aliases in his moving castle; one of the film's greatest visual triumphs. Here, he peddles folk remedies and spreads disparaging rumours about himself in the hope that the King won't demand his services. However, his morals force him to intervene as a war begins with the neighbouring kingdom. He refuses to take a side and instead sabotages the efforts of both armies. In order to fight, he turns into a monstrous bird, progressively losing his human self with each transformation. This is played in parallel with his search for inner peace, something he finds the will to fight for upon meeting Sophie.

Dubbed vs subtitled

It is important to note that, unlike many foreign films, Howl... received a sophisticated and star-studded redubbing, headed by Pixar's Peter Doctor and including such A-listers as Christian Bale and Lauren Bacall. Considerations were made for the English speaking audience, resulting in changes from the more "authentic" subtitled version. Children should probably watch the dub and adults should see both.

As an adaptation

Though this anime Castle started life as a 1990 British novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Hayao Miyazaki integrates his trademark style into the piece and the result is classic Ghibli. Many of the characters have been amalgamated or changed and the plot drastically reshaped but the spirit of the book remains and fans will not be disappointed. In the words of Diana herself: 'it will be different from the book..., but that's as it should be. It will still be a fantastic film'. She is right on both counts.