Last week I took Greenleaf to see ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ at UW-Milwaukee’s Union Theatre. Not only was it free, it also conveniently filled that time between dropping off Harmonie at work and picking her up again. Greenleaf (because I made her watch it) is a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’ — I think it’s a perfect film for kids (perhaps especially for little girls). So when I heard ‘Howl’s’ was playing for one night only, I decided to take Greenleaf. Now she’s only 3, and she’s never been to a movie before, but she did really well. Seeing a Miyazaki film on TV just doesn’t do it justice. The main reason Greenleaf was able to sit through a 2 hour movie was because the animation and illustration was so amazing. There’s so much detail and the colors are so rich. Blend that with a cast of surreal characters and a difficult-to-follow plot, and you’ve got a hit on your hands.

The plot, in a nutshell: A quiet, “plain” girl (Sophie) is rescued from harassment by a handsome wizard (Howl). A jealous witch (The Witch of the Waste) puts a curse on Sophie, turning her into an old lady. Sophie runs from her home into the Waste and is befriended by a mute, hopping scarecrow (Turnip-Head). They are both, in turn, picked up by Howl’s magical, moving castle which is powered by a fire demon (Calcifer) who is also under a curse. Living in the castle is a little boy (Markl), apprentice to Howl. Meanwhile two countries are at war, destroying one another mercilessly. Howl is also cursed, though it’s not entirely clear what his curse is. The themes of the movie include love, self-sacrifice, curses, and forgiveness.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone that loves Japanese animation. For those that don’t, this might be a good introduction. Was it “too much” for a 3 year old? Maybe, but my mission, to turn Greenleaf into a lovable geek, is well underway.

Click here to see a selection of stills from the movie in an animated GIF file.

p.s. There are a lot of free movies playing at the Union Theatre all year, plus other cool activities open to the public.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2005 at 7:46 am and is filed under art &tc., milwaukee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.