nemof.org blog

I just finished watching a cam rip of ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and I have to say it’s one of the best Ghibli I’ve ever seen! I wasn’t much of a fan of ‘Spirited Away’ so this came as a wonderful surprise. The story centers on a girl called Sophie who is a hat maker in a small town. When she becomes cursed by a witch she has to find a way to lift the curse and discover the mystery of Howl, a magician and his moving castle which he lives in. I cannot give away more than that as it’s truly a delight to discover and that’s something you need to do yourself, not be told. One thing is for sure, with childrens movies of this quality coming from Japan I certainly will never watch a Disney film again. I guess that is why Disney have dubbed and licensed many of Ghibli Studio’s films for western audiences. However if you really want to see Howl as it should be seen then you should wait for the subtitled dvd; there is something about seeing a film in its true language, in the intonations and subtle differences in meanings that makes the story much more true. Japanese is such a different language that there will always be a loss of information when translated but if you read a films subtitles while listening to the tone of it’s actors then more of the original meaning - in my opinion - can be gleaned. Well there is little more I can say about Howl without the use of a trumpet, so all I need do is bid you a goodnight!