HowL's MoVinG CAsTLe...
Caught HWC last night. It is quite "spirited away" in the sense that the female lead looked like Chihiro in Spirited away. Overall, the show was entertaining and I was especially amused by Calcifer and the scarecrow. So cute... Although the initial part was a bit draggy, still the story moves me on. The ending however was a bit abrupt and that it wasn't good enough. Probably beause by then it has already exceeded 2 hrs and they wanted to end it.
You can download the theme song and other trailers here.
Here's the sypnopsis.
Howl’s Moving Castle is based on a children’s book of the same name, written by British author Diana Wynne Jones, which has been adapted into a screenplay by Miyazaki himself. Having not read the book (something I plan to correct ASAP) I had no preconceptions of what to expect and, of course, no idea what changes Studio Ghibli had made to the story and characters. Suffice to say if the book is anywhere near as good as the film the legions of fans will be very happy indeed. I really don’t want to spoil the film too much for anyone, so I’ll just briefly introduce the story to give you an idea of the basic plot.
The film begins as we are introduced to Sophie, the eldest of three daughters, who works as a hat maker in her family shop, seemingly resigned to her simple life. One day, there are reports of a strange moving castle on the outskirts of the town. It is said the castle belongs to the “evil wizard Howl” who eats the hearts of young girls. Sophie appears unfazed as she jokes, “I’ll be ok; since I’m sure he only eats the hearts of beautiful girls”. Later that day, on her way to visit someone, she takes a detour to avoid a march by hundreds of troops apparently on their way to war. As she walks down a narrow alley she is stopped in her path by a pair of lecherous soldiers. Just before things turn nasty, Sophie is rescued by a stranger who tells her they must walk faster as he is being followed. While they run down the narrow passageways, black shapes ooze out of the cracks in the walls and floor and begin to pursue them. Suddenly the stranger launches into the air, pulling Sophie with him, away from their pursuers. After leaving her on a balcony he flies off to intercept them and promises to meet her later.
That night, after returning home, Sophie is attacked by the Witch of the Waste who, after seeing the encounter with the stranger, casts a spell turning her into a 90-year-old woman. When she wakes a little while later Sophie is shocked upon seeing her aged reflection in the mirror. In the morning she decides there is no way she can stay around the shop, so she packs up a few belongings and some food and leaves the city. After ignoring warnings from locals about the witches and wizards that live in the wastelands, Sophie starts on her journey. It’s not long before a terrible storm starts up, but undaunted she struggles on. Suddenly, out of the gloom, the giant castle on mechanical legs crashes towards her. Sophie decides her only chance for escaping the storm is to climb aboard the castle, wizard or no, as she’s sure he won’t be interested in her “90-year-old heart”. Once inside we are introduced to Calcifer, a grumpy fire demon who, aside from providing warmth for the castle, also controls its movement. He tells Sophie that if she can find a way to free him from his duty of running the castle, he will in turn break the spell and return her to her proper age. In the morning she meets Markl, a small boy (with a brilliant disguise) who appears to be the wizard’s helper. As they start to make breakfast, the back door opens…Howl has returned!
And so begins the journey of Sophie. Will she be able to break the curse and return to her former self, why was she attacked by the Witch of the Waste and what is the mystery surrounding the wizard known as Howl?
posted by biosynthesis @ 1:40 PM
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