This movie is adapted
from a British novel by Diana Wynne Jones. Sophie is an 18-year-old young woman
working in a hat shop. Her father
had opened the shop years ago. An
elderly and very large witch comes into the store and complains about the
shabbiness of Sophie and the shop.
She is displeased because Sophie and the wizard Howl have become friends. Because Sophie stands up to her and
asks her to leave, the Witch of the Waste casts a spell on her that turns her
into a very elderly version of herself.
Sophie decides to set out on her own which leads her to Howl’s castle that
moves along the land. Calcifer is
a fire demon turned into this by Howl and he is the one who moves the
castle. Calcifer makes a deal with
Sophie, if she can break the contract he’s under with Howl, he will lift the
curse on her. She becomes a
cleaning lady for Howl and he does a lot to help her.
It is interesting how
the castle moves along the land on long legs powered by the fire. There is also a war going on in the
Waste Lands between two kingdoms and there are many bombings in the city. There are different types of characters,
wonderful scenery, a message against war and unusual machinery. 3 ½* (I liked this movie)
119
min, Animation directed by Hayao Miyazaki with the voices of Jean Simmons,
Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner, Emily Mortimer, Josh Hutcherson,
Billy Crystal, Jena Malone, Crispin Freeman, Mark Silverman.
Note: Imdb 8.2 out of 10, 87% critic 93%
audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1125
reviews.
Special
Note: Christian Bale viewed the film
Spirited Away by the same team and he immediately wanted to play any role in
Howl’s Castle.
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