[Previous entry: "Clarion West 2005"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Andr00's Teeth"]

06/27/2005 Archived Entry: "Howl's Moving Castle"

We saw the subtitled version of Howl's Moving Castle last week. Due to the kindness of our friend Kate Schaefer, Jack and I actually got to see it together! We both enjoyed it. Jack is a big Miyazaki fan, and I like his stuff also. There are a lot of differences from the book, more than I remembered even though I think I re-read it last year.

I'd read the beginning of Mely's LJ essay before seeing the movie. Of course, once I read the full entry and the comments after the movie, I was agreeing with it -- "I wished Miyazaki had kept less of the story if he wasn't intending to keep more. Without Jones' setup and themes, the presence of Sophie's (step)mother and (half-)sister doesn't make sense; neither does the flower-shop. Howl's assertion that he's a coward isn't borne out by any of his actions. The slimy temper tantrum is a marvelous set-piece that doesn't seem to have anything to do with war-wounded hero Howl."

More links via Mely:

• nineweaving: "as if Miyazaki had fallen asleep with his head on the book and dreamed it"
• rushthatspeaks compares the dub and subtitled version in detail.
• Matthew Cheney and Geoffrey Goodwin: "Howl's a French Decadent, too -- he even oozes absinthe-colored goo when he's depressed and dissipated. I guess it says more about me than the movie that I adored him because I kept thinking of him as a mix of Beckford, Baudelaire, and Bowie."

(tags: Miyazaki, coffee_and_ink, howlsmovingcastle, DianaWynneJones)