★★★★ 

Watched 25 Jul, 2020

I hadn’t watched a film in over a month when my friend suggested Howl’s Moving Castle to me. I’ve been so busy, I had to watch it in 20 min installments like a TV show because of the circumstances at school. I remember complaining to my friend that my passion for film was slowly fading away and he told me ‘just watch a good film’, it’ll come back. It has.

Howl’s Moving Castle is a beautiful film. Visually and symbolically. The animation is revolutionary as expected from a Studio Ghibli movie. Miyazaki helms this film spectacularly. The visual style is so unique and the colours and shapes that he brings to the viewer are spectacular. The design of the castle itself is so magnificent it takes your breath away at some points. The plot of the film is admittedly a bit confusing especially when watched in such a disjointed manner but its no Interstellar and the themes of anti-war, love and cowardice are clear and visible throughout the film. I watched it in the original Japanese because I’m a purist like that and the voice-acting was really good from whatever I could interpret. The score is mesmerizing. The only flaw, in my opinion, is that the film is slightly inconsistent with its pacing which was aggravated by my method of viewing which made it a slightly jarring experience. Nevertheless, the film is still beautiful and just makes you feel so good and warm on the inside which I really needed in times like this. Definitely check this one out, it’s on Netflix here in India.