Review – Howl’s Moving Castle

Miyazaki continues to impress with this charming tale of magic and mystery. A girl aged to grandmother status by a witch’s spell sets herself up as housekeeper for a wizard who lives in a castle that walks around on bird legs. As per the director’s usual style, the plot takes no end of strange-yet-entertaining twists. To be sure, the picture has a few dark moments, especially when it’s trying to make a point about the destructiveness and stupidity of war. But overall it’s light-hearted and cute. I was particularly impressed by the inclusion of elements from the work of Albert Robida, one of my favorite artists starting way back when I was a kid. Buy the disc