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plot synopsis: Shrinking-violet hat shop girl Sophie (Mortimer), after an encounter with a handsome young wizard, is hexed by the jealous Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall) and transforms into a 90-year-old woman (Simmons). Sophie abandons the city and encounters the ambulatory fortress of Howl (Bale), a feared sorceror, who happens to be the handsome young wizard. Sophie forges an alliance with Calcifer (Crystal), the fire demon magically bound to Howl and who powers the castle, in order to help each other with their respective enchantments. Against a backdrop of magic-fueled war and political intrigue, Sophie and Howl learn each other's secrets, confront their antagonists, and fall in love.
review: Not surprisingly, this latest film from animation genius Hayao Miyazaki is a gorgeous, lyrical fairytale. It's set in a kind of retro-futuristic Jules Verne kind of world where steam-powered flying vehicles have hummingbird-like wings. The artistry in every frame is dazzling, of course, and the 3-d and 2-d animation is blended flawlessly. The film has a little bit of everything: action/adventure, romance, mystery, and comic relief.
There's way too much going on in this film for me to analyze in detail, but the major thematic motif running through the film seems to be transformation; nearly every character goes through some kind of metamorphosis. Brilliantly, it is not the kind of point a-to-point b, "poof! you're a banana!" kind of transformation in most cases; for instance, throughout the film, Sophie's physical age is in a constant state of flux, and even when her curse is finally "lifted," she still retains her grey hair. This struck me as being very much like life, where changes are hardly ever linear and you never end up back at exactly the same point. Similarly, the dichotomy between good and evil is not black and white, and characters who seem antagonistic turn out to be not malevolent but redeemably flawed and even join our band of heroes; they are driven by motivations like greed or self-preservation which, like most people, they can overcome or at least control.
Miyazaki's visual and storytelling brilliance (although this particular film is adapted from another author's story) is matched by his talent for the creation of memorable characters, and this film is full of them, from the heroes right down to the wordless sidekicks. Sophie is shy yet strong-willed and brave, with a rather Zen outlook toward the improbable things happening to and around her. Howl is powerful, but vain and adolescent. There's an enchanted scarecrow (a tip of the hat to Oz) that, with a fixed facial expression, no dialogue, and limited physical capabilities (it can mostly just hop and hold things), expresses more nobility than most film heroes, and a little droopy wheezing dog that is endearing and hilarious without being overtly cutesy.
We were disappointed that we weren't getting to see the subtitled version, but the vocal cast for the English-dubbed version does well, and since the film takes place in a European-seeming world, it didn't seem inappropriate for there to be non-Japanese voices. The most recognizable voice is, of course, Billy Crystal. Even though the rest of the cast is filled with recognizable names, that's the only instance where the "star" presence is distracting, and it's hard to shake the sense of "oh, it's Billy Crystal...it's Billy Crystal again...it's still Billy Crystal." But eventually I got over it because he does a pretty good job and fortunately gives a pretty toned-down performance. Plus he's still riding goodwill points from his appearance in The Princess Bride. I can't tell you how accurate or faithful the English translation is, but it did seem like some of the jokes were probably Americanized.
This film has received some mild criticism for its similarities to previous Miyazaki films, but I don't think he needs to be 100% innovative on every single film. That's like complaining about similarities between Rubber Soul and Revolver. Granted, I did find the conclusion of the film to be a bit rushed and glib ("the secret ingredient is...love??"), but even a slightly-off film from Miyazaki is going to be more richly rewarding than just about any other choice you have at the cinema. (mike.06.05)
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