#in any case this is your push to go read earthsea

[tiddytrashcan]

Everytime I think I understand the degree to which Ursula K. LeGuin Got It™ she hits me with another life revelation

[howdoyousayghibli]

Howl’s Moving Castle Shines Technically, But Strains Against Ghibli’s Narrative Style

To my knowledge, Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) was Studio Ghibli’s first time adapting an existing book into a movie. For those unfamiliar, the film is based on a novel of the same name by the inimitable Diana Wynne Jones. If you haven’t read any of her books, what are you even doing reading my dumb blog?? Go read The Dark Lord of Derkholm right now. I’ll wait. The summary doesn’t do it justice, just read it. 

Anyway, Howl’s Moving Castle (the novel) is excellent as well, although I have to admit I haven’t read it in at least a decade. For those of you who have read the novel, it’s best to know going in that the film is a very loose adaptation. For those of you who haven’t read it, the movie tells the story of Sophie, a young, timid hatmaker who happens to run afoul of a very powerful witch. Sophie is cursed with immediate old age, and it seems her only hope of breaking the curse lies with the powerful, enigmatic, and extremely vain Wizard Howl — and his captive fire demon, Calcifer.

Howl’s Moving Castle is, of course, beautiful. The vaguely European landscapes from Kiki’s Delivery Service are back and more beautiful than ever, and it seems that by 2005 Studio Ghibli has finally nailed down the integration of CGI with their more traditional animation. The titular castle is a technical achievement, and a certain flashback sequence is particularly stunning. Also making a return is delicious Ghibli food — don’t even think about watching the breakfast scene if you don’t have bacon and eggs in your fridge right this second. (Also don’t think about how long Howl’s bacon had been sitting out.) Based solely on the animation, I would say that this was Studio Ghibli’s greatest work yet — an extremely high bar. 

The casting also deserves attention. Possibly spurred on by Spirited Away’s Oscar win, Howl’s Moving Castle secured some big names for its English dub — principally, Christain Bale as Howl and Billy Crystal as Calcifer. At first, Bale’s gravelly tones sound a bit odd coming from the somewhat foppish Howl, but his performance grows more natural as we see more of Howl. If you were feeling charitable, you could even posit that this was intentional, reflecting the way Howl puts on less of a facade as he gets closer to Sophie.

In contrast, Billy Crystal’s Calcifer is an immediate success. Crystal easily manages the fast-talking fire demon’s habit of switching from sassy confidence to pitiful pleading, proving more than a match for the delightful character design and animation. 

The rest of the cast is less famous (to me, at least) but no less capable; a pre-Peeta Melark Josh Hutcherson voices Howl’s adorable young apprentice, and acclaimed Golden Age actress Lauren Bacall brings gooey disdain to fantastically animated Witch of the Wastes. Sophie’s voice acting is divided between Emily Mortimer (young Sophie) and Jean Simmons (old Sophie) (that’s Jean, not Gene). As with Howl, young Sophie’s voice is a little stilted at first, but quickly grows more comfortable — and both actresses do an admirable job of selling themselves as older and younger versions of the same character. 

So, the casting is great, and the animation and character design are great. What about the story? Let’s ease in to that one.

If you know me, you probably know that I’m a big fan of Brandon Sanderson’s novels. I used to think that a Ghibli adaptation of Mistborn or The Way of Kings would be the best-case scenario. While I’m sure it would produce some stunning imagery, I’ve realized that I don’t actually think they would be a good fit for each other.

Where Brandon Sanderson excels at build-up and payoff, Studio Ghibli is generally uninterested in that specific kind of Hollywood-style catharsis. The mysteries in Howl’s Moving Castle aren’t tied up in neat bows, the villains don’t get satisfying take-downs, and some questions are left unanswered. This can be frustrating, but it also is what makes so many of Studio Ghibli’s movies stick with you after you watch them. 

Now, this style works better in some circumstances than in others; for example, the ambiguity of Princess Mononoke is essential to the film, and it would be lesser without it. In Howl’s Moving Castle, the subversion of our expectations is most effective when it comes to the Witch of the Wilds. The ending of her story isn’t what we expect, or indeed, what we want. It left me frustrated at first, but the more I thought about it — well, the more I thought about it. Why did the characters treat her that way, and why did it bother me so much? I still haven’t come to an answer, but that’s exactly the point: it’s about the thinking, not the conclusion. 

This kind of non-payoff is less effective, however, in the case of this movie’s capital-m Mystery: what is the nature of Calcifer and Howl’s bond? We are told that this is the crux of removing Sophie’s curse, setting it up as the central plot point aside from Howl and Sophie’s relationship. The issue isn’t necessarily that we don’t get answers — we do, they just don’t feel particularly consequential when they come. It’s the same kind of subversion as the Witch of the Waste’s story, except it doesn’t feel like it serves a purpose. For more detail on this, catch me in the Spoiler Zone.

Howl’s Moving Castle is an extraordinary work of animation, pushed even higher by an excellent cast. Even if the movie stumbles a bit with the denouement, it’s well worth watching — you’d be hard-pressed to find another movie with this much … heart. 

Up Next: Tales of Earthsea, another adaptation of a book I read over a decade ago. I don’t know much about the movie, but the whispers I’ve heard haven’t been particularly encouraging. Let’s hope they’re wrong!

Alternate Titles:

Howl’s Computer-Generated Castle

The Curious Case That’s Cute as a Button

~SPOILER ZONE~

Okay, so: Howl gave Calcifer his heart! Wow! Now, if only that had … any consequences. At all. 

I hear you already — “Howl not having a heart is the reason he acts the way he does!” Sure, but then why is he already changing his ways before Sophie puts his heart back inside him? Maybe there’s more to this that I could pick up on watching it a second or third time, but as it stands right now, it just fell a bit flat. 

The other thing that fell flat: Turnip Head’s surprise ending. For a mute scarecrow, he’s incredibly endearing throughout the movie — which goes to show just how talented Studio Ghibli is — but then is turned back into a prince who gets about 3 seconds of screentime before the credits roll. It only adds insult to injury that the movie uses those three seconds to have him resolve the Big War, just like that. 

Put together, the way these two threads were wrapped up feels like when a TV show is cancelled and the writers suddenly have to finish the show three seasons ahead of schedule. This is even more exasperating when you take into account that Howl’s Moving Castle is two hours long; there’s no reason the ending had to feel so rushed.

[sobdasha]

so it wasn’t exactly a new year’s resolution

but I did tell myself that this was the year I'd actually get serious about my library list and start reading some books!!!

(I always say I like reading, but that is a lie. I am given to understand that people who like reading like reading just about anything and everything, especially classics of all types that I find deathly boring and rudely dismiss as "something you are forced to read in school" [luckily, I seemed to go to a lot of schools/take plenty of classes that were lax about making us read lol so I have successfully managed to NOT read so very many classics]. What I like is endlessly rereading the same small selection of books I already know I like, or waiting 5+ years after someone's recced me a book to decide that probably there is a 95% chance I will definitely like it so maybe I should pick it up after all??)

a n y w a y I'm going to broaden my literary horizons by still avoiding ~classics~ but at least looking at things that seem to be popular and decently likely to be enjoyable to me personally, on the grounds that "look, you, it's not like you have triggers or anything, you are just a jerk and what's the worst that can happen if you start reading a book and it turns out you don't like it? You read really fast so how much of your life can you possibly waste doing this"

so, future me, here is what past you was up to in case you want a go at rereading or just can't remember what you've actually read lol

Dragonriders of Pern, Anne McCaffrey This wasn't actually this year, BUT it was part of my first failed move to library more things so it counts. First, let me shame myself: in 5th grade we had a Pern short story in our lit book. It was great. It was exactly up my alley, it had dragons, it was good. I knew I would love these books. I knew I would have such a good time reading these books. I did not actually put in a request at the library until I was like 30. So in that regard, supes, I got on reading Ancillary Justice really fast loooool. Anyway the short story was my typical favorite thing, about a boy who is on the fringe and doesn't have close friends but he ends up with the coolest dragon chosen-hero style and it's great. This is what I expected Dragonriders of Pern to be all about. The first book is not at all about this. Maybe future books are better, because at the end there was a mention of them pushing their society to be more like the way it's set up in that short story, but like. I just can't. Push through to see. The two main dudes were cool for the first 10 pages but then they just. Became jerks. The women could have been cool but I couldn't stomach how the men viewed them (wow maybe if you didn't abuse your gals and then be mean to them when they get depressed they might? Be less?? Depressed??? JUST A THOUGHT.) I didn't sign up for baby dragons violently maiming and murdering children as a special bonding activity??????? I signed up for kids cutely bonding with eggs and then being bffs when the eggs hatch??????????? I tried but it's gonna have to be How To Train Your Dragon franchises for me, sorry.

Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin Another series I should have read as a child. I tried the first book back at the time I tried Dragonriders of Pern, and let's be clear--it was not bad. It just didn't hook me, the way it captivates so many other people, so I never borrowed any of the other books. I tried again at the start of this reading binge, and I managed to get to the middle of the third book before I quit. I wasn't invested in the characters and story, it was pretty depressing, also I marathoned a bunch of it while I had flu/pneumonia so maybe that didn't help either. Sorry, Earthsea, I should have been more proactive and grandfathered you in as a child, like I did with Narnia, so I could share this Earthsea nostalgia with everyone else.

The Raven Tower, Ann Leckie This technically isn't part of my reading list because I had zero hesitations about reading more Ann Leckie lol. I just want to say, I highly recommend all her stuff and read The Raven Tower it's! Good! I highly enjoyed the second person pov narrative conceit that's like "Can you hear me? Can you hear me now? Well I'm just going to keep talking until you can hear me. Here's some relevant backstory. Can you hear me? Maybe you're sleeping or something so I'm just going to narrate for you exactly what you did today until you realize I'm speaking to you and you listen to this very important backstory context I'm giving you, ffs can you hear me already." Like, it wasn't specifically framed as such, which I appreciate, because when one tries too hard to apologize/explain away a narrative choice that logically doesn't make sense, it now makes even less sense after you called attention to it and that bothers me, so since this didn't do that I was free to read in what I liked and it felt very clever.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams Errr so I started this because it's been on my list for ages and the roommate just picked up a used copy of the trilogy so it was readily available without me having to put forth much effort. And a mutual Pratchett-loving acquaintance told me she also adores Hitchhiker's Guide, so. I…….am in chapter 8 of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and that's? Where I stopped?? To read everything else on my list that I'm enjoying way more??? Hitchhiker's Guide is as it was billed to me, it's funny and witty and all, but...idk, for me it toes the line of what I actually find funny? I think mostly why I'm bored and lost motivation to continue is two reasons: 1) Arthur Dent is ordinary and boring, and as an ordinary and boring person who would also, if on a space adventure, just be whining about how inconvenient it is that I can't get tea instead of marveling at the marvels of the universe--I don't want to read about how boring I am! I wanna read about someone cool having adventures!!! and 2) I think to me it's showing its age a bit, esp. like in regards to Trillian (she's a cool independent brilliant beautiful woman who don't need no man so why is she still trailing behind Zaphod, not doing anything cool of her own, and putting up with him being a jerk to her??? Plenty of current writers have moved beyond that type of story and I could be reading that instead!!! so I went and read that instead.) I guess, since I'm not very invested in any of the characters, the experience has a kind of flat feel to me. I may come back later and try to finish it? I have left my bookmark in it and put it on my own bookshelves to shame me, so we'll see.

To be continued!

[tiddytrashcan]

Everytime I think I understand the degree to which Ursula K. LeGuin Got It™ she hits me with another life revelation