HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

I love this movie, and was delighted to find a version with the option to watch it in Japanese with English subtitles. 😍

Love the movie and the music

My son and I really liked the movie.

Hiyao Miyazaki came out of retirement for like the third time to do this adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' book. It was originally going to be directed by Mamoru Hosodu of Digimon(although he went on to do the awesome Summer Wars!), but bugged out early, so Miyazaki stepped in to fill in the part. Like Castle In The Sky, Miyazaki elegently fuses steampunk with magic in this romantic fantasy.Taking place in a European-like country, Sophie Hatter is a young hatmaker(convenient name!)that has a brief encounter with the bishonen sorcerer Howl. Sophie has a curse put on her by the spiteful Witch of the Waste who is jealous of Howl flirting with her. Sophie is now turned into an old version of herself, so she heads out into into the land known as the Wastes to find a way to break the curse. With the help of a living scarecrow(shades of Wizard Of Oz), Sophie makes her way to the mobile castle of Howl himself, which is powered by the fire demon Calcifur that is under Howl's service. Sophie takes on the role of Howl's housekeeper, although she can't tell him about the curse she's under. Howl on his own becomes aware of Sophie's enchantment, but also starts falling for her inner-self, just as Sophie is stricken with him. While all this is going on, a war has been escalating between Sophie's country and an opposing kingdom. Howl is called in to be of service to their king, but has set up multiple aliases to keep from being drafted. He sends Sophie to the castle to answer for him disguised as his mother, although its trap set by the royal sorceress Madame Suliman. The Witch of the Waste is caught in her trap first and has all her magic stolen from her, reducing her to an old woman. Howl rescues the both of them, and then tries to set up a new life for everyone away from the war. Suliman sends her goons out to hunt down Howl, which seems a bit wasteful of resources since she should be using them to help fight in the war going on. Howl ends up using too much of his magic though, and it causes the castle to fall apart. Sophie has to travel deep inside Howl's psyche in order to bring him back from turning into a monster from his overuse of magic. She manages to save him, and at the same time the curse on her is lifted(even though her hair is still grey). It's revealed that the scarecrow is the prince from the warring country, and returns to stop the conflict, while Sophie and Howl go to live happily ever after in their new "castle in the sky".The movie goes off in a different direction towards the third act than that of the original novel, plus a few things are altered like Howl being a skirtchaser, as well as less emphasis on the actual war going on around the characters. There is a real sense of romance in this movie as opposed to some of Miyazaki's others, at least in the sense of a more mature nature instead of between two children. Visually, its one of the best anime movies of the 2000s, and finely handles CGI with 2D animation. Its been met with mixed reviews, even though I believe it has a well-thought out storyline, especially for a Miyazaki film which sometimes tends to get a little muddled near the conclusion. The Disney dub is fair too, with Billy Crystal as Calcifur, even though Christain Bale is a little weak at time as Howl(especially when he uses the Batman voice). This is a great storybook fantasy, and one of my personal favorite animated movie classics.

Like a vivid dream, Miyazaki's film presents an alternate world for children of all ages. For more mature viewers, however, his works represent the complex realities we face here and now in this cruel, yet beautiful world. Howl's Moving Castle will take us on a journey of moral quest to confront unnecessary and destructive wars that make us victims of, and collaborators with, terror at one and the same time. If our children can handle such serious subjects as war, justice and humanity, so must we.Miyazaki tells us that we are not what we seem to be. Howl is a handsome young man who looks like a dashing rock star and behaves like a flamboyant prince. Nevertheless, he is a wizard. Yet, unlike other wizards, he no longer works for the Palace, and when night falls, he turns into a black monster bird, flying across the sky to intercept a massive bomber formation over defenseless cities burning in flames. Howl spreads his wings and tries to catch bombs in the air, but all he can do is to neutralize a few bombs out of thousands. Thus, he goes to war each day, knowing in advance that he will fail. Which one of his multiple characters is truer than the other ones? Is any one aspect of his as true as any other?Sophie, a 19-year-old girl, is turned into a 90-year-old woman by the Witch of the Waste Land because she attracts the attention of Howl whom the Witch desires for herself, secretly envious of his youth and beauty. Is this a curse by a jealous witch, or does it merely mirror the lost heart of Sophie who does not know what she is to become, having resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop? If the latter is the case, what can she do to break the spell? So, she sets off on an adventure to discover herself.Not even the Witch, an elaborately dressed dowager, is immune to power. When she is called to the Palace, she kowtows to authority and transforms herself into a helpless old woman, going up a flight of steep stairs that lead to a majestic chamber. It has been a long time since the ancient oral traditions she represents were annihilated and subjugated by nation-states in the age of modernization.Calcifer, a cantankerous fire demon, is supposed to be a free being in the universe, but he is under a contract to Howl, so he is kept in a small fireplace to generate energy for the moving castle. When more energy is needed for the castle in crisis, Sophie offers a lock of her hair to Calcifer who then says, "If you give me your soul, I will be able to produce unimaginable amounts of energy." Perhaps, the wizards at the Palace who are in charge of inventing all the machines, warplanes, tanks, bombs, and missiles, have given up their souls to Calcifer to develop nuclear weapons.As citizens of nations with industrial democracies which uphold a single economic model, namely extreme capitalism unleashed by neo-liberal shock treatments in the era of corporate globalization, we have no faces, no voices, and no names. Here we have Miyazaki's invitation to take off on a magical journey, together with Sophie and Howl, to search for the infinite possibilities that dwell in each one of us. It will be as hard an adventure as anyone can undertake in the mysterious frontier of the human mind, as valuable an experience as dreams that would not cease to inspire us, and as easy a task as remembering once again our own names.Peace,Kazuki Anno, Translators United for Peace

This Studio Ghibli film was much more mature and bait and switch than I thought. The quality of the animation and discs are top notch as always, but the story here stands out even today

Die Lieferung und die DVD als solche alles Wunde geklappt.Der Film ist fantastisch. Alles was Ghibli Filme auszeichnet ist hier hervorragend umgesetzt!Leider ist nur die japanische und die deutsche Version vorhanden.Das wunderbare Timbre der englischen synchronstimme für Hauro/Howl geht im deutschen leider völlig verloren. Ausserdem ist die deutsche Übersetzung inhaltlich abweichend von der englischen Fassung...."you think so,so do I " wurde bspw mit "i love you" übersetzt! Feinheiten auch hinsichtlich des zeitlichen Sprungs am Anfang, der erst später ersichtlich wird gehen so leider verloren. Auch die Kommentare von Madame Suliman beim Blick in die Kristallkugel weichen inhaltlich zur englischen Fassung ab, im englischen ist die Handlung nachvollziehbarer.Ich kenne den Flim nur in der englischen und deutschen Synchronisation. Die deutsche Fassung ist einfach extrem schlecht.Die Stimme der jungen Sophie vorallem aber auch Howl/Hauro fehlt alles an Charisma, klang Ausstrahlung.Ganz furchtbar ist auch dass die deutsche Fassung sinnentstellend ist und die Handlung z.t. dadurch nicht verständlich ist. Die Interpretation durch diese z.t.groben Übersetzungsfehler ist nicht mehr stringent und nachvollziehbar!Dennoch ein wunderschöner Film, aber ich empfehle wirklich eine andere Sprache.

Lätt att beställa och leverans som utlovat

Molto originale la storia, bellissimi i disegni, stupendi i fondali ed i colori brillanti. Un’opera che vale la pena possedere e conservare per sempre. Un autentico gioiello d’animazione del grande regista giapponese Hayao Miyazaki.

L'univers onirique de Myasaki nous entraîne.Petits et grands y trouvent leur compte

As a huge Ghibli fan these steelbook cases look amazing on a shelf and are quite sturdy. They look fantastic all lined up together. Would recommend to any Ghibli fan!