CCR FILM REVIEW
Every time I see Howl’s Castle I just marvel at how incredibly beautiful this film really is. The idea of such a simple love story is turned into so much more. And, as I watch it over and over I find myself falling in love with the simplest details of the film. Hayao Miyazaki has the ability to create such fanciful stories and I recommend additionally Ponyo, his most recent movie. The more Miyazaki films I see, the more I love the ideas he uses to make these stories special. The images from the movie are enough to make it wonderful, but it means so much more than just that to me. Today I’ve included on this site some of my favorite images.
I love the way Sophies age changes so dramatically during the story. As the movie begins, she is cursed by the Witch of the Waste and becomes an old woman. On her journey she tries to find someone to break her curse, only to learn that she has the power to do so herself. I love the way that she becomes young again every night when she falls asleep. I love how throughout the movie she grows younger and younger every time she shows strength or compassion or love. It is when she feels at home in Howl’s garden that she finally returns to her young age. This idea reminds me of Benjamin Button. Although I’ve never seen the movie, I understand that it’s a story of a character who becomes progressively younger.
The best moment for me in the film is Sophie’s vision of Howl’s childhood in the garden. All the stars fall out of the sky and explode with vibrant color on the grass and on the surface of the water. The image of little figures can be seen running across the lake before they disappear. Here, the colors of the film just take my breath away. It reminds me of Good Luck’s “Stars Were Exploding/Bringing Them Back To Life” from their album Into Lake Griffey. I highly recommend this album to anyone and everyone, but that’s an idea for another day. I’ve posted that song below.
It also reminds me of Super Mario Galaxy, the most recent Mario video game I have played on the Wii. I played some of this game with my friend Scott Williams during the summer of 2008 and remember it vividly. Mario collects and throws little stars that look the ones in the movie bursting and exploding in flashes of color and light. The game also puts a thrill twist on Gravity and physics that was quite an experience, but I will try not to linger on this idea. Miyazaki is never afraid to play with the concept of reality in his films. I call attention to the scene in Howl’s where Howl and Madame Solomon have their dual. Sophie and Howl fall beneath the surface of the ocean only to find themselves floating in the sky. I absolutely melt. In the garden dream also I notice how Sophie falls through the ground in what reminds me of the Rabbit Hole from Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I noticed yesterday how briefly the scene shows two islands in the sea far below Sophie as she falls and was reminded of The Island in Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie. Each time I see the film I notice more spectacular details.
Also noteworthy was Miyazaki’s latest film Ponyo, which I saw this past summer and thoroughly enjoyed. I have included my favorite images from Howl’s on this page and encourage everyone to enjoy this and other movies sometime very soon.
