Howl's Moving Castle

Actually this was not the first time I have seen Howl’s Moving Castle. I have seen this film in an adaptation course in which I read Diane Wynne Jones’ novel of the same name. Obviously like in every adaptation of a film, certain elements of the novel are difficult to translate into film and there is of course the issue of time. As Professor Cohen noted during the screening of the film, Miyazaki creates his own form and style. For instance, Sophie’s appearance constantly changes throughout the film. It seems as though Sophie’s appearance changes whenever she shows signs of happiness and self confidence. There is a scene when Sophie wakes up in the middle of the night in her true appearance and she walks upstairs to see Howl in is creature like form. This scene questions reality and as a viewer one cannot help but think the scene was merely a dream. In the following scene Sophie wakes up in her cursed form and notices Howl’s footprints on the floor. She seems indifferent about the fact Howl arrived home. Those two scenes need further investigation.

The ending of the film was rather different from the ending in the novel. In fact, as someone noted to me, after watching the ending one wouldn’t have believed it to be a Miyazaki film. Miyazaki creates a “happy ever after” ending the film by tying all the loose ends together which Miyazaki has yet to do in any of his other films. It’s ironic because Miyazaki mentions the happy ending movie by having the witch, Sullivan explicitly stating, “Oh a happy ending I see. You two-timer [to the dog]. Well there it is”. Sullivan seems disappointed and so did I. the ending felt so abrupt and random. Too many random things started happening but somehow fit into the story to allow a happy ending. I’m referencing the fact the turnip was a prince from a foreign land and the spell was broken once Sophie kissed him. The ending just seemed too farfetched.

Porco Rosso

In Cohen’s lecture we discussed the film being a homage to Casablanca. The film is placed in Italy rather than in Japan like in some of Miyazaki’s other films. This film shows playful characteristics of a Porco Rosso, who seems to be a rather serious character. Even though he seems to dislike himself, whenever he is in the presence of a woman he treats her with respect and blushes whenever women show him any form of affection. Porco Rosso and other men in the film become weak in the presence of a woman or when women show them signs of affection. Gina’s life reflects life in the real world. In other words there is hardship and death in reality but the other characters that Gina associates with are part of the fantastic world. Porco Rosso embodies the realm of the fantastical because he is a humanoid pig.

Spirited Away

Out of all the Miyazaki’s films I have seen thus far this has been the most exhilarating film. This film was definitely a coming of age film just like Kiki’s Delivery Service. In the beginning the film sets up Chihiro to be a naïve and easily frightened girl. Even though she was easily frightened, her natural instincts led her to be safe from danger. Her parents are the ones who turn out to be rather naïve. When the family enter the tunnel and find the area completely empty with random food on the table the parents should have known that this was a little unsettling. The young girl seemed to be the only sensible person in the whole film other than Haku. I guess Miyazaki plays with this idea that children can see what adults cannot. Again, parents are absent from the film but Chihiro has a chance to save her parents.
Was Haku human in his past life? I was a little unclear of this because Chihiro remembers Haku saving her from drowning when she was younger. The flashbacks implied some sort of animal or creature saved her, but when Chihiro remembered Haku’s name he returned to human form. So did I miss something?

Princess Mononoke

There were aspects of the film I missed the first time around. For instance, I thought the demon boar god was cursed by a god who was already a demon. When Ashitaka showed the little man the rock his people found in the deceased God, I thought it was something that grew inside of him. When watching the film a second time I understood the God was cursed by his own hatred and anger at humanity for creating weapons that destroyed nature. One of Miyazaki’s recurring themes is humanity vs. nature. The two always seem to come into conflict and are eventually resolved by the end of the film.

Kiki's Delivery Service

This film is definitely a coming of age film. It is about Kiki learning to control her powers and to be at one with them. Susan Napier notes in Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle that Kiki does not lose her powers until she reaches the age of puberty where young girls start to become interested in boys. This is an interesting point because Kiki meets Ursula who went through the stages that Kiki goes through in the film.

Watching this film for the second time since I was a child, I thought there would be more magical aspects to the film. Other than Kiki flying in the sky, the only magic was when Kiki found another young witch and were flying over the young witch’s big city. The lights of the city were an attraction and it made me think of how a big city can see magical during the night. There are other things I want to mention but I plan to come back to the film later.

My Neighbor Totoro

Napier notes in Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle that the Mei and her sister only see Totoro during moments of loneliness. Here in this film, there is the loss of one of the parents. The mother is sick with something unknown to the audience. At certain points in the film, it is difficult to differentiate between the real and the unreal. The beginning of the film shows the audience that the girls have an active imagination. I’m speaking specifically of the scene when the girls enter the new home and see little black dust creatures. The creatures always seem to disappear whenever adults enter the room.

I have more I want to say about My Neighbor Totoro but I will come back to the film a little later.

Laputa:Castle in the Sky

As mentioned in Professor Cohen’s lecture, Miyazaki creates characters with very ambiguous characteristics. For example, in Castle in the Sky the pirates that attempt to steal the princess’s necklace are quite sympathetic characters. The film makes fun of the ambiguousness of the characters. In the scene where Pazu and Sheeta are on the pirates’ plane, Pazu mentions the mother pirate’s kindness even though the mother acts tough.

Susan Napier notes that many of Miyazaki’s films seem to have children without parents. Both Sheeta and Pazu are orphans. The film never cuts to a flashback of Sheeta’s parents but the film does show a flashback of Pazu’s father riding in the clouds as he tells Sheeta about the mysterious castle in the sky. Although the two only have known each other for a brief time they form a strong bond which turns to love for one another. This seems to be a common theme in Miyazaki’s films. Whenever a male character is introduced in the film he is drawn to the female protagonist and has a strong desire to help her for no explainable reason other than the fact the young girl is beautiful.