A work of art

Rating: 9/10 (29 November 2011)

Based on the novel Howl's Moving Castle, written by Dianna Wynna Jones, Hayao Miyazaki had produced yet another phenomenal movie hit world wide. Like many of Miyazaki's successful movies such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the sky and many others, the stories in which these movies were based upon were altered and mixed with Miyazaki's own personal beliefs. Howl's Moving Castle is shown with classic Miyazaki: feminism, war, and love. The themes presented in the movie, although somewhat in a lull, progressively strengthen Sofi's and Howl's love story. Another key iconological factor to all Hayao Miyazaki films is the captivating traditional hand-drawn animation.
In almost all of Miyazaki's films, the protagonist is a strong young woman, or child, for he had a feministic view. They are first shown as timid and weak, but progressively grow strong, and fierce young ladies that go against the 'norm' for a woman – their love being the main reason for such acts. In his movies, the young women are in high positions, or leaders – Sofi had to take initiative in order to protect the person she loves, Madame Suliman served as the King's Royal Sorcerer with extremely strong power; in Spirited Away, Yubaba was the boss of the bath house; Princess Mononoke was the defender of nature and stood as the right hand man of the spirits. In this movie, Sofi was often static for she was stuck in the house. She showed no signs of power till her love grew for Howl. The fact that he was hurting ignited a fire in her heart to protect him, and along with the others. Her love gave her courage, fearlessness, and finally got into motion. Normally in Miyazaki films, the war (not necessarily with fire power, but a war as in any sign of conflicting parties) played a significant role for everyone (Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso). In Howl's Moving Castle, the war was merely a moving factor to reel Howl and Sofi together.
Hayao Miyazaki is regarded as the world's greatest animator. His style of animation is through traditional hand-drawn animation, and water colors. Every swipe of his brush, every outline, has a unique feeling being created through his art. In each shot there is breath-taking magic mixed with his rich creativity. All of his movies are fused with wild fantasy, sometimes with more serious issues such as environmentalism, and politics. All of Miyazaki's films have a part of his soul attached to it, giving it life and individuality.