Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
Hayao Miyazaki
Cast:
Chieko Baisho……….Sofî (voice)
Takuya Kimura……….Hauru (voice)
Akihiro Miwa……….Arechi no Majo (voice)
Tatsuya Gashuin……….Karushifâ (voice)
Ryunosuke Kamiki……….Marukuru (voice)
Mitsunori Isaki……….Koshô (voice)
Yo Oizumi……….Kakashi no Kabu (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka……….Kokuô (voice)
Daijiro Harada……….Hin (voice)
Haruko Kato……….Sariman (voice)
Lauren Bacall……….Witch of the Waste (voice: English version)
Christian Bale……….Howl (voice: English version)
Billy Crystal……….Calcifer (voice: English version)
Blythe Danner……….Madam Suliman (voice: English version)
Emily Mortimer……….Young Sophie (voice: English version)
Jean Simmons……….Old Sophie (voice: English Version)
The Movie
2005 was rather asymptomatic of animation in the last decade. While audiences were treated to the mediocrity of computer animated films like Madagascar and Valiant, three animated films harkened back to earlier times in order to entertain. And while Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Corpse Bride were entertaining stop-action films, Howl’s Moving Castle harkened back to the days of two-dimensional drawn animation. Originally released in Japan, and one of the highest grossing films of all time over there, Howl’s Moving Castle came and went with little fanfare in the United States as it limped to $5 million in box office receipts in a down year.
Known in Japan as Hauru no ugoku shiro, the film follows a young woman named Sophie (Emily Mortimer) along a magical adventure involving all sorts of unique things. Cursed by the Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall) into an old woman’s body (with a new voice, this time by Jean Simmons), Sophie has to try and break the curse while becoming the cleaning lady for a mysterious wizard named Howl (Christian Bale), whose fire demon Calcifer (Billy Crystal) is conspiring with her to break both of their curses. Throw in a scarecrow with a mind of its own as well as an ongoing war with a rival kingdom into this adventure and what is left is a film that tries to be epic in scope but falls just short.
From a visual standpoint, Howl’s Moving Castle is probably the best looking animated film of the last couple years. While it doesn’t have the advantages of computer animation, the shading and colors used give it a much better level of depth as well as giving the film the sort of fanciful look required in an epic fantasy film. There’s a lot to marvel at, but considering the level of quality from the creative force behind the film (Hayao Miyazaki) it’s not that big of a shock.
What’s also good about the film is that the dialogue for both the English and Japanese language versions matches up to the mouth movements of the characters on screen. It’s indistinguishable when you watch either, as generally with translations there’s usually a problem syncing it up with the characters on screen.
The thing holding back the film from being the sort of epic fantasy film it aspires to be is the actors behind the drawn characters. It has fine performances from top actors like Bale, Bacall, and Crystal, but there are no big epic performances to be found from any of them. While Crystal has some great moments, and Bale is his usual good self, but the voices in the film are missing a lot in order to take the film to that next level.
Score : 7 / 10
The Video
Presented in a widescreen format with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film looks great. In an age of digital animation, the two dimensional Howl’s Moving Castle has a great transfer and a gorgeous look to it. The colors are vivid, and the subtleties of the animation come through very well.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, Howl’s Moving Castle sounds great. It’s also interesting to note that the Japanese audio tracks are included as well in 5.1 Surround, allowing you to hear it in the original language with subtitles on for the purist in any animation or foreign language fan. The tracks are both well done have well, with a separated sound that is enveloping.
The Extras
Behind the Microphone is a featurette focusing on how they transferred the film’s dialogue from Japanese to English while trying to maintain the film’s story. With the English language voice cast on hand, as well as several producers and the staff members responsible for translating the dialogue from Japanese to English, it’s an interesting nine minute feature. It’s also interesting how they had to change up dialogue to match up with the facial movements, adding in and subtracting dialogue to make the mouth movements sync up. There’s also footage from the dubbing sessions as well, which is interesting as it is interesting to see actors do voice work, getting into character while not having others to work with.
Interview with Pete Docter is a seven minute feature with the Pixar Animation Studios Director as he talks about the film. It’s interesting to hear Docter talk about the film, as he has a Japanese reporter feeding him questions, as Docter appears to want to craft the film in English and keep the same high level and regard for the film that he obviously holds it at.
Hello Mr. Lasseter: Hayao Miyazaki Visits Pixar is a featurette focusing on Miyazaki’s visit to the Pixar Animation Studios with John Lasseter. Focusing on Miyazaki’s visit as Pixar unveiled the English language version, the film follows the legendary director through his time there. Running around 16 minutes, it’s originally from a Japanese show as they cover his visit as well as some commentary from Lasseter about his thoughts on the film.
Storyboards allow you to watch the film with the movie soundtrack on, with both the original Japanese and the English language audio options available. It’s extremely fascinating to see how the film went from concept to reality.
Original Japanese theatrical trailers and TV spots come included with or without English subtitles for translation. It’s always interesting to see trailers for foreign films in their home land, as they bring a different perspective on the film.
Score : 8 / 10
