Howl's Moving Castle (film)

Howl's Moving Castle contains strong anti-war themes, influenced by Miyazaki's distaste for the 2003 Iraq War.[5][9][10] When he received an Oscar for Spirited Away, he said that he "had a great deal of rage about [the war]. So [he] felt some hesitation about the award."[5] Miyazaki identifies as a pacifist.[9][10][11] On the eve of the Iraq War, Miyazaki decided to make a film that he felt would be poorly received in the United States. Despite the film's success in that country, literary scholar Dani Cavallaro stated that Miyazaki was able to "create a film which ought, in principle, to have caused a certain unease among American audiences."[5] In the movie, Madame Suliman appears to have only sadistic motivations for creating conflict,[5] and despite being omniscient, is unable to recognize the idiocy of the war until the very end of the story. This reflects Miyazaki's desire to show real-world conflicts as also being somewhat arbitrary and fueled by the desires of capricious people.[12] Cavallaro stated that the depiction of the war carried "an unmistakable bitter taste."[5] She also writes that the military presence and warfare was highlighted in the film.[13] From the early concept sketches military elements were emphasized, and when the film shows the bustling commercial district the soldiers in uniforms stand out intentionally.[13]

The universe of Howl's Moving Castle is depicted as not having clear-cut villains and heroes; instead, the characters are complex, and even those that are initially portrayed in a negative light, such as Howl, are shown as capable of change.[14] Matt Kimmich has stated, however, that the simplistic message of the film is that "war is bad."[11] A scene where Sophie is standing in a beautiful field of flowers is interrupted by a war machine, "a finger accusing empire as the destroyer of peace."[15] This portrayal is in strong contrast to other Miyazaki films like Princess Mononoke, which criticizes military conflict in a more nuanced manner.[11] Andrew Osmond stated that "Howl's pure-hearted anti-war stance is presented as nihilism with no alternative as he fights forces from each side and becomes the worst terror of all," in the form of the monstrous bird. By transforming into the bird, Howl risks losing his own humanity; Calcifer comments at one point that he will soon not be able to return to human form.[11] In contrast, Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke fights the demonic sickness with which he is afflicted, and tries to negotiate a peace between the two sides.[11] Osmond states that both films also point out the limits of masculinity, as exemplified by Howl and Ashitaka.[11]

Like several other Miyazaki films,[14] Howl's Moving Castle reflects the director's love of flying.[16] Sequences in the film include both several aircraft of inventive design, as well as Howl transforming into a bird.[16] Miyazaki examines flight as a theme most directly in the later film The Wind Rises.[16] Miyazaki stated that he was attracted to military aircraft as a child, but that he grew to detest them because of the destructive purpose for which they are created.[16] Thus Howl's Moving Castle contains images both of aircraft shown as harmless and beautiful, and large military craft depicted as ugly and destructive.[16] Cavallaro writes that Miyazaki wants to "portray flight as an object of admiration and awe," but that he is not "[blind] to its abuse by unscrupulous strategists and rulers."[16]

The nuanced view of flight is part of Miyazaki's broader critique of modern society and technology. Margaret Talbot writes that in person, Miyazaki exhibits "a profound dissatisfaction with modern life,"[14] particularly with the effects of technology and a disconnection from nature.[14] Many of his films depict technological hubris as among the roots of evil.[17] The battleships which are seen moving over the landscape are depicted as "gleaming with modernity and parading righteousness,"[18] but are then shown to be highly destructive.[18] In contrast, the semi-organic castle demonstrates "Miyazaki’s Taoist presentation of industrialism needing to be aligned with nature" according to Carl and Garrath Wilson.[18] Antonio Lioi writes that Miyazaki often depicts beautiful scenes in contrast to those containing symbols of modernity, such as the scene where Sophie's reverie is interrupted by a war machine. This contrast is part of an ecological criticism of modernity, but Miyazaki also offers an alternative, in the form of beautiful natural scenery.[15]

Miyazaki stated that an attractive aspect of the story of Howl's Moving Castle was the relatively positive light it shed on growing old.[14] When Sophie becomes old as a result of the witch's spell, she also feels more able to speak her mind. According to Miyazaki, old women are only infrequently allowed to dominate the screen as in Howl's Moving Castle, which made it a risky concept.[14] Elizabeth Parsons stated that the film disrupts the stereotype of "aged unattractiveness," when the artificially aged Sophie manages to rescue two attractive men (who come to love her) and to unintentionally end the war in her country.[19] Sophie's actions are those usually associated with grandmothers, such as being kind and nurturing to those around her, and engaging in housework; however, these actions are depicted as being powerful and heroic.[19] Sophie is one of several strong female protagonists in Miyazaki's films.[15] According to Parsons, this gives the film a feminist aspect as well.[19] Additionally, even though Sophie manages to make her presence in the castle legitimate by claiming to be a cleaning lady, the film goes on to show that the housework is equitably distributed, strengthening its feminist aspect.[19]

In 2013, Miyazaki stated that Howl's Moving Castle was his favorite creation, and explained his choice by saying "I wanted to convey the message that life is worth living, and I don't think that's changed."[6] In the film, Sophie is shown to overcome extreme challenges by learning to put the well-being of those she cares about above her own self-interest, a quality which Miyazaki refers to as devotion.[6] Several of the protagonists in Miyazaki's films, such as Ashitaka and San in Princess Mononoke and Sheeta and Pazu in Castle in the Sky learn to survive by learning the same lesson.[6] Cavallaro states that Miyazaki spreads this moral through the entire film, to convey human beings' ability to be compassionate, such as when the scarecrow holds an umbrella over Sophie's head when it rains.[6] Over the course of the film, Howl, its most vain and selfish character, also learns to put others before himself.[19] When Madame Suliman returns the Witch of the Waste to her true form as a decrepit old woman, Sophie takes her in and cares for her, despite the witch being responsible for Sophie's curse, thus strongly demonstrating the idea of compassion.[19] The witch then nearly destroys Howl through her selfish behavior, but also helps save the castle at the end. Parsons writes that "In Miyazaki's balancing act, old women can be powerful and weak, positive and negative, nurturing and selfish, maligned and loved; in short, they can not be simply categorized or stereotyped, and they can not be dismissed as fantasy malefactors embodied by evil witches."[19] They are also given a lot of space in the film as active characters, something not commonly found in western movies.[19]

The film opened at the 61st Venice Film Festival in 2004,[4] and was released in Japan on 20 November 2004.[3] The film grossed $14.5 million in its first week of release in Japan alone.[14] The film was distributed in Japan by Toho, and made $190,000,000 in that country.[3] It was distributed internationally by various companies, and made approximately an additional $45,000,000 outside Japan, for a worldwide total of $235,184,110.[3] The film was later dubbed into English under the supervision of Pete Docter of Pixar, and released in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures on 10 June 2005.[35][3] It was one of the most commercially successful Japanese films ever made.[4] Soon after its release, it became the third most financially successful film in Japan, behind Titanic and Spirited Away.[17]

On home video, Howl's Moving Castle sold 2.7 million DVD units in Japan as of May 2007,[36] and grossed over $18 million from Blu-ray and DVD sales in the United States as of April 2022.[37] It was released in the United States on DVD on 7 March 2006 and on Blu-ray by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on 21 May 2013.[38] GKIDS re-released the film on Blu-ray and DVD on 17 October 2017.[39]

In the United Kingdom, the film's Studio Ghibli anniversary release was 2015's eighth best-selling foreign language film on home video, and fifth best-selling Japanese film (below four other Studio Ghibli anime films).[40] It was later 2018's fourth best-selling foreign language film in the UK (below the Japanese films My Neighbor Totoro, Your Name and Blade of the Immortal).[41]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 87% approval rating based on 181 reviews, with an average rating of 7.47/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Exquisitely illustrated by master animator Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle will delight children with its fantastical story and touch the hearts and minds of older viewers as well."[38] The film also holds an 80/100 average on Metacritic, based on 40 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[2]

USA Today critic Claudia Puig gave the film a positive review, praising it for its ability to blend "a childlike sense of wonder with sophisticated emotions and motives".[42] Helen McCarthy in 500 Essential Anime Movies said that the natural world was "beautifully represented", with "some absolutely breathtaking mountains and lakeside landscapes". She also praised the design of the castle and added that Miyazaki added his own themes to the film: "man's relationship to nature, the futility of war, and the joy of flight".[43] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal called the film "a moveable feast of delights".[44] Richard Corliss of Time wrote, "Palaces and shimmering lakes, warplanes and fire sprites all come to life at the breath of Miyazaki's graphic genius."[45] Writing for The Boston Globe, Ty Burr said, "At its best, 'Howl's Moving Castle' offers a rich fantasy of adolescent escape, of romance in the old and epic sense. At its worst, it's the most amazing 12-course meal you can't bring yourself to finish."[46] A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote, "Admirers of [Hayao Miyazaki's] work, which is wildly imaginative, emotionally intense and surpassingly gentle, will find much to appreciate in this film because it demonstrates, once again, his visual ingenuity and his sensitivity as a storyteller. For newcomers to his world, "Howl's Moving Castle" is a fitting introduction to one of modern cinema's great enchanters."[47]

Conversely, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half out of four stars, and called it a "disappointment" compared to Miyazaki's other recent movies.[48] Jonathan Trout of the BBC said, "Youngsters and Miyazaki fans will coo at the world's depth and rich surreality, but opaque plotting, and a tendency to mope with Sophie whilst Howl is off affecting events let the momentum of the first act vanish into thin air."[49] Writing for Salon, Stephanie Zacharek said, "the plot of Howl's Moving Castle meanders so listlessly that its details become less and less charming. Miyazaki's storytelling style resembles that of a breathless young tot who's fearlessly exercising his newfound powers of expression."[50] Stephen Hunter from The Washington Post criticized the plot of the film, saying "There is no story, or rather, there's no force to the story, which meanders almost casually this way and that for no apparent reason."[51] However, he said that the movie also empowered young women, and was "beautiful beyond telling."[51] David Rooney, writing in Variety, stated that "the narrative motor roars ahead in the opening hour and is more erratic thereafter," and suggested that better translation would help.[1] Literary scholar Matt Kimmich stated that the film came across as "uneasy compromise between two plots and two imaginations," referring to Jones' original story and Miyazaki's style of animation and storytelling.[52] However, he stated that those scenes which were not dependent either on Jones' original plot or Miyazaki's added plot threads found "a visual humor that recalls the verbal wit and lightness of Jones's novel,"[53] and that the "animation manages to free itself from the demands of the two plots—and flies."[53]

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2005.[54]

• 2nd – Ella Taylor, LA Weekly (tie)
• 4th – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
• 5th – Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club
• 6th – Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer
• 6th – Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader (tie)
• 8th – Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun
• 8th – Michael Wilmington, The Chicago Tribune
• NA – Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor (listed alphabetically)