As subtle an anti-war story as you will ever see, with plenty of love and generosity too.

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2019)

Certainly my favourite Miyazaki film. The animations are a touch angular, but colourfully and stylishly depict this story of a beautiful young girl who is cursed by an evil witch. In despair, she sets off, directionless, from home and comes across "Howl" and his moving castle - and the sprite "Calcifer". She begins a journey of discovery - about herself as much as anything. "Howl" - the ultimate free spirit is also facing down demons of his own that he is struggling to reconcile with. "Calcifer" provides the conduit for them to get to better understand each other and also much of the humour as they seek to break the spells that bind them. This works on many different levels and each time I see it, I seem get something different from it.