"A Heart Is A Heavy Burden"

Rating: Null/10 (23 May 2014)

From the writer-director of Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke & the Academy Award winning Spirited Away comes another spellbinding journey into the creative world of this highly revered filmmaker. Howl's Moving Castle continues the remarkable success streak of Hayao Miyazaki's esteemed film career & is a fascinating take on old age difficulties, futility of war & magic of love, all encapsulated with Miyazaki's unique storytelling ability & infused with his distinct artistic flavour.
Howl's Moving Castle, on a superficial level, is a love story between Sophie; an unconfident young woman & Howl; a powerful but insecure wizard. When a witch, who's after Howl, casts a strong spell on Sophie which transforms her into a 90-year old woman, she moves out of town & travels to seek a cure for her spell and eventually finds shelter in Howl's strange & mobile castle. There she meets a fire demon amongst other acquaintances who offers to break her curse if Sophie is able to set him free from Howl's service.
Written & directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle features another intriguing drama that's effectively paced & expertly narrated by him. It also boasts a compelling set of characters amongst which Calcifer; the fire-demon, turned out to be the most interesting for me. Like all Miyazaki's films, the animation is impressive while the lush cinematography captures every moment in fine detail. The humour is nicely timed, the themes are elegantly explored & Joe Hisaishi's score wonderfully accompanies the whole drama with its blissful tracks.
On an overall scale, Howl's Moving Castle may not rank amongst Miyazaki's finest works but this anime is still full of life, love, joy & magic. The only complaint I have is that the final 30 minutes are kind of messed up plus the ending feels slightly hurried up. Yet it doesn't take away much from the film as it still manages to transport its viewers to Miyazaki's wonderland and will surely leave most of them emotionally fulfilled & satisfied. Another visual wonder from start to finish by Studio Ghibli whose creativity never seems to tire out, Howl's Moving Castle is thoroughly recommended.