A unique masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 2005)

Dislocation is rarely a pleasant experience, but when the title object of "Howl's Moving Castle" first comes into view, its visual, historical, stylistic ambiguity is downright thrilling.
Master animator Hayao Miyazaki (of "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke") once again takes the breath away with his bizarre imagination and richly painted scenes. The enormous lumbering Gothic/sci-fi structure looming over the late-19th century Alsatian (!) cityscape reminds one of Hieronymus Bosch, of Pieter Breughel, of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and yet remains resolutely unique - it is Miyazaki, and no one else.
Neither a Hollywood computer-animated film nor a typical Japanese anime, Miyazaki's work is a phenomenon onto itself.
As a movie, "Castle" ("Hauru no ugoku shiro"), at 2 hours' running time, is about a half an hour too long. As a work of art, a visual sensation, it's over much too quickly, although it is guaranteed to continue to run in one's mind.
Adopting British author Diana Wynne Jones novel, Miyazaki tells the story of Howl, a terrifying and yet insecure wizard/demon; young milliner Sophie, who is turned into a 90-year-old woman by the Witch of the Waste; Calcifer, a fiery little demon, who powers the castle; Markl, Howl's young apprentice; and the mystical Madame Suliman.
Heaven forfend that such a work be dubbed ("Spirited Away" was different - and superior - in the subtitled version), but Miyazaki admirers John Lassater and Pete Docter of Pixar have put heart and soul into the English version, and they succeeded. The voice talent for "Castle" is extraordinary: Jean Simmons is old Sophie (the film's main character), Emily Mortimer is the pre-curse Sophie, Laren Bacall makes the evil witch almost lovable, Billy Crystal is Calcifer (not overdoing it), and Christian Bale is Howl.
For "Spirited Away" fans, "Castle" is a must; for those unfamiliar with Miyazaki, this is a splendid introduction to the work of a creative genius.