Review for Howl's Moving Castle - Double Play: The Studio Ghibli Collection

Introduction

Howl's Moving Castle is the other of this month's Blu-ray Ghibli upgrades, alongside Tales of Earthsea. Tales of Earthsea has its critics, and it's a departure from the usual Ghibli movies as it was made by first time director Goro Miyazaki. Howl's Moving Castle on the other hand presents no such issues, as it was directed by the master himself, Goro's father Hayao Miyazaki. It too is an adaptation of a Western literary source, in this case Dianne Wynne Jones' novel of the same name. And for some reason, I've managed to avoid Howl's Moving Castle up till now, except for a half watched Christmas morning TV broadcast a few years ago. I've never felt as enthused about the Ghibli output post-Spirited Away, feeling that they've lost something ineffable in comparison to the earlier Ghibli catalogue. This Blu-ray gives me a chance to properly evaluate Howl's Moving Castle, and try and make the ineffable, effable.

It's a magical world in which Sophie lives, where wizards and witches offer their services to society much like any other profession, where the skies are filled with strange ships, and where a castle strides through the misty landscapes around her town. Its master, the wizard Howl is the source for much gossip and fancy for the young ladies in town, and especially the other employees in her mother's shop, where Sophie works making hats. But Sophie is a dour young girl, old before her time, who's far more engrossed in her work, than she is in the idle fancies of youth.


All of that changes when she pays a visit to the sweet shop where her sister works. The army is in town, and the citizens are out to enjoy the parade, so she takes the back streets. When she runs into a couple of over attentive soldiers, a handsome young man comes to her rescue. But he too is being pursued by creatures not nearly as amorous. The magical chase that ensues over the rooftops of the town is breathtaking and wondrous, but Sophie has caught the eye of the young man's enemy. That evening, the Witch of the Waste pays a visit to Sophie's hat shop with a message for the young man, who is of course the wizard Howl. But when Sophie doesn't take kindly to her rudeness, the Witch of the Waste leaves Sophie with a pernicious curse. From that point forward, Sophie is turned into an old woman, and forbidden to talk of the spell that has cursed her. Now Sophie has no choice but to leave the shop and her family, and search for a way to reverse the spell. She sets out on a journey that will lead her to Howl's Moving Castle, and a fantastic adventure.

Picture

Howl's Moving Castle makes a stunning transition to Blu-ray. The film gets a 1080p widescreen transfer at the 1.85:1 theatrical ratio. The image is outstanding, clear and sharp throughout, and with a glorious lush palette of colours. The detail levels are astounding, the character and world designs look amazing on this Blu-ray disc, and the subtle blending of traditional style 2D animation and CGI is flawless. I have a particular fondness for the Moving Castle of the title, as it looks in its stop-motion unreal jitteriness as if it has escaped from a Monty Python episode. As for the thought that has gone into the imagery of the film, just taking a look in Howl's room, a Byzantine melange of bric-a-brac and objet d'art gives some idea of how lavish and intricate making this film must have been.

Sound

You have the choice of DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround in English and Japanese, with optional translated subtitles to go with the Japanese track. I opted for the Japanese audio as usual, and was very happy with the surround experience, with the soundstage put to full use conveying the film's effects. The dialogue is clear throughout, and the voice actors suit their roles well. The thunderous steampunk presence of the castle makes an immediate impact in the film, and the audio lives up to that impact in the way the rest of the film's sound is designed. The music soundtrack comes from long time Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi, and is suitably mellow and atmospheric. I gave the English audio a quick try, and as usual Disney's dubs go way beyond the usual anime dubs. With names like Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Emily Mortimer, and Jean Simmons (in her final film role), in the cast, you can be assured of quality. Howl's Moving Castle is a film you can easily watch in either language.

Extras

The StudioCanal release of Howl's Moving Castle on Blu-ray apparently sources its BD component from Australia's Madman Entertainment. It is a dual play release, but I didn't receive the DVD or the packaging to comment upon. If prior precedent is to be observed, then the DVD will be a barebones release, while the Blu-ray will hold the extra features.

The disc has an animated menu screen featuring stills from the movie, against which an animated menu bar allows you to choose your options.

As always, you have the option of watching the film with storyboards in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This is a Picture in Picture affair, and you'll have to look for that button on your remote, rather than the alternate angle one.


There are some brief featurettes on this disc, as well as some more substantial. The first is a rather promotional piece that follows Hayao Miyazaki as he visits John Lasseter at Pixar to experience an early presentation of the English dub. This is from a Japanese perspective, so voice-over person has to be subtitled. This lasts 16½ minutes.

There is also a similar Japanese perspective applied to an interview with the author of Howl's Moving Castle, Dianne Wynne Jones. This lasts 8 minutes.

The Interview with the English dub director Pete Docter also lasts 8 minutes, and he talks about making Howl's Moving Castle work in English, as well as some of the casting choices.

Explanation of CG is a 20 minute featurette, which looks at how 3D CGI was used in Howl's Moving Castle, with a whole lot of before and after imagery, work in progress shots, and screen grabs of various pieces of software. Subtitled voiceover man explains a lot of dry and technical material here, which is good if you are a student of animation.

The Sounds of Howl's Moving Castle gathers the various members of the sound crew that worked on the film to describe the work that they did, which netted two awards at the 2005 Tokyo Anime Fair. This lasts 28 minutes and goes into quite some detail.


Not so detailed is the Behind the Microphone featurette, which lasts 9 minutes, and gives us a superficial glimpse at the US dub in progress, with some soundbite interviews with the Hollywood cast.

Finally there are 3½ minutes of TV spots, 8 minutes worth of theatrical trailers for Howl's Moving Castle, and Ghibli Collection trailers for Arriety, Ponyo, Tales From Earthsea, Spirited Away, Whisper of the Heart, and Nausicaa.

All except the HD theatrical and Ghibli trailers are presented in 720p resolution, apparently up-scaled from SD.

Conclusion

Howl's Moving Castle almost works for me. It's almost up there with the classic Miyazaki Ghibli movies such as Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso, which all have an eternal charm for me. It's just that in the end, Howl's Moving Castle loses energy and direction, and fails to deliver on what it promises. It's a fun ride up to that point though, full of the traditional Miyazaki inventiveness, the attention to detail, and the careful observation of character.

The message of Howl's Moving Castle is a very appealing one, and one that is presented in a unique and arresting way. It's about the rediscovery of innocence, the appreciation of wonder, and the childlike qualities that keep us engaged with the world. Sophie is a character who is old before her time, dresses conservatively, tends to avoid gregariousness and frivolous gossip, and is uneasy of too much attention. She'd much rather stay in the shop and work, than spend the day at the parade, watching the soldiers march through town. It's only through the witch's curse, when she's turned into an aged crone that she realises that she has never appreciated what she has now lost.


For Howl, it's a more conscious surrendering of innocence that has turned him into the man he is today. He made a deal with a demon for power, and in doing so gave up his heart. On the outside he's still young, handsome and the object of scandalous affection for many young girls, but that masks a cynicism, fear and reclusiveness that estrange him from the world, as he takes refuge in his Moving Castle. As you would expect, it's only through each other that Sophie and Howl have any chance of recapturing the innocence that they have both lost. How Miyazaki presents this story is strong, engaging and thoroughly entertaining.

It's also bolstered by the magical Ghibli animation. Howl's world is a world filled with magic, a steampunk world replete with fantastic machines and inventive designs. The character animation too is top-notch, and as the story hinges on the transformation from young girl to old crone that Sophie goes through, the animation here is at times subtle and beautifully accomplished. If this was the entirety of Howl's Moving Castle, then it would be an easy film to praise.

The problem is with the narrative. Miyazaki's films aren't always that strong in narrative, and films like Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso can often feel more like slice of life pieces, vignettes and moments which when presented together create something greater than the sum of the parts. The problem with Howl's Moving Castle is that it has got a strong narrative, and one which at time overwhelms the main story of Sophie and Howl.


There's the matter of the vendetta between the Witch of the Waste and Howl, there's also more significantly the war that begins and takes place during the film, for which the king tries to have Howl recruited. All this builds and builds quite effectively. But in the end it all deflates into meaninglessness. The war arc pretty much puts paid to the Witch of the Waste storyline, and in the end the war itself is resolved with a throwaway line or two, and a development with the Turnip Head Scarecrow which seems horrifically like an out of the blue set up for another movie altogether.

If you watch this movie expecting a strong narrative throughout, and a story with a definite beginning, middle, and more importantly a satisfying conclusion, then I expect Howl's Moving Castle will disappoint. If on the other hand you go in the film invested in Sophie and Howl's characters, and remain focused on their emotional arc through the film, then Howl's Moving Castle will provide a satisfying experience.