Saturday 1 October 2005

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Another trip to the cinema but well worth the effort on this occasion, since the Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki is a bona fide genius -- and I don't use the word lightly.  Based on the children's book by a Welsh (!) writer, he has created a beautiful, painterly world of the imagination.  It's the story of a young girl transformed into an old crone and her love for the wizard Howl who has lost his heart (literally).  There is also a lovely bouncing scarecrow and an appealing Dougalish dog.  While perhaps just a smidgeon beneath his masterpiece ("Spirited Away"), this hand-drawn animation rivals the best of Disney's output and is so much more enchanting than even the best computer work.  It's nearly two hours long but I didn't struggle to read my watch in the dark to find out how the time was going, which for me is an indication of just how absorbing the film was.

Although I usually prefer to watch films in their original version, it was the English dub being shown and the voice talent (mainly British) was more than acceptable. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

From the previews I've seen it looks a lot like Bellville Rendezvous. Sounds like it needs to go on the must see list.

Anonymous said...

Think I would like to see this film as well, seen it advertized at one of the local flicks you make it sound like a watchable film.

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