Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle Open in Japan

blamanj writes ""Howl's Moving Castle" (Howl no Ugoku Shiro), is the latest animated epic from Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli. In a departure from his usual sources, this time Miyazaki has adapted a story by British author Diana Wynne Jones. The reviews look good." CT: Apparently Howl's opened a few weeks ago.

Comments

That's all well and good but

[Omicron32]

I'm not watching it if it's not digitally signed.

The biggest concern...

[JossiRossi]

I didn't see anything on it, but have they done any dubbing? I personally prefer subtitles, but they may try to pull a "Must appeal to a wider audience" when they pull it over to the states. Will the English speaking version suck? Who knows.

Re:The biggest concern...

[UWC]

Disney has exclusive US distribution rights to all Ghibli work (note that the Miramax label, under which Princess Mononoke was released, is owned by Disney), so there shouldn't be a problem with signing. I think Spirited Away was in US theaters within a year of its Japanese release, wasn't it? I hope this sees a similarly speedy release. Spirited Away's critical success bodes well for a fairly wide release.

Miyazaki's films always have a moral

[BillsPetMonkey]

The moral in Sen to Chihiro no kamikaukushi ("Spirited Away") is basically "Don't destroy the environment" and "Children should learn manners".

Sounds very simple, but how many Hollywood films teach kids this stuff? It's subtle. I wonder what the moral is for this one.

Re:Miyazaki's films always have a moral

[Lemmy Caution]

That's not the "moral," that's the background of Japanese culture from which it's created. It may be shocking to you, but working hard and not complaining are actual values (for both genders) that are very much embodied in Japanese child-rearing.

From the Japanese perspective, the moral of American media is "slack off and whine a lot."

Re:Miyazaki's films always have a moral

[david.given]

The moral in Sen to Chihiro no kamikaukushi ("Spirited Away") is basically "Don't destroy the environment" and "Children should learn manners".

There's more to it than that. Other themes I spotted:

• Evil is a matter of perception. (The shadow-creature, Yubaba, and Yubaba's sister are all initially portrayed as evil until Chihiro learns more about them; and then they're not, they're just people.)
• Law is fundamental to society. (There are laws and rules everywhere, and they can't be broken: if you don't cross the river before sunset, you're trapped. Yubaba must give you a job if you ask for it. Chihiro's boyfriend whose name I forget stole the charm, therefore it must be returned.)
• Everything has its place. (The shadow creature doesn't belong in the bath-house; it's evil there. But it's not when it's outside. Chihiro doesn't belong in that world, where she's considered disgusting and dangerous; she belongs in the mundane world.)
• Work is important. (There is no free ride. You have an obligation to society --- and, therefore, society has an obligation to you.)

Hollywood tends to push the blatantly false and downright dangerous True love conquers all (and don't put up with anything less) and You can do anything if only you want it hard enough. Frankly, I find Miyazaki's themes of social responsibility and the benefits of hard work far more suitable for children.

I love Howl's Moving Castle (and it's sequel Castle in the Air, which I think is even better). I'm eagerly awaiting seeing what he's done with it.

Opens today?

[delirium_9]

You're kidding right? This thing has been out for a month. Before it came out there was a lot of hype but from the people I know who've seen it the movie wasn't very good.

But it did do well in the box office:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5 ?nn20041124b1.htm

Funny, I thought it opened on Nov 20th...

[relayer]

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/newspro/latest_ne ws.shtml#newsitemEEpEEFukyFuAXaDnpx

November 22, 2004 "Howl" Breaks Japanese Weekend Box Office Record
From Kyodo Press Flash24:
Toho announced :
'Howl' earned 1,400 million yen (~$13.5 million USD) at the box office in the first day of release and its next day (Nov 20, 21). This is the highest new record at a Japanese movie.

Awesome, will DL

[OverlordQ]

I'll just hop over to suprnova and . . oh wait . . . NoooooOoooo! ;)

Trailers

[Andorion]

Website

Quicktime 4 Trailer

XviD Teaser

~Berj

No, that's barely scratching the surface.

[DeadVulcan]

The moral in Sen to Chihiro no kamikaukushi ("Spirited Away") is basically "Don't destroy the environment" and "Children should learn manners".

Chihiro, at the beginning of the film, seems somewhat spoiled and incessantly whiney.

By the end, she has had to set her own goals, make her own decisions, accept responsibility, and carry through on a long-term plan. All without the guidance of her parents. It's the process of growing up and leaving the nest. Sorry, but "children should learn manners" just doesn't cover all that.

Foreign Films

[MightyMartian]

> They're cartoons, and therefore for kids. That's a pretty definite correlation.
> If he wants the Japanese movie industry to be taken seriously like the
> American one, try making films with *real* actors and scenes. Oh, no, that
> would require a budget. Take a look at the movie listings at your local
> picture house ... see any Japanese films? Nope ... or maybe just one. Compare
> and contrast to the vast number of American films that make it out there.

Well, the US only has a relatively small fraction of the world's population, and believe it or not, these sorts of movies become huge successes making their producers and backers big bucks, even if some Yankee who's looking for the latest blow-em-up-real-good Hollywood splashganza doesn't even know they exist.

Miyazaki is an artist, and his animated films tell compelling stories in a manner that I doubt most Hollywood junkies could appreciate.

As to movie theatres in North America, they are pretty much dominated by the Hollywood system, and unless you live in a bigger community with theatres that can afford to run relatively unpopular films (foreign films, silent films and black and white films), the average movie-goer is sadly out of luck.

I've been watching a lot more older and foreign films lately. I watched Renoir's The Rules of the Game a month ago, borrowed it from my local library. What a brilliant film, but I doubt that most of my fellow Canadians and most Americans know it even exists. There's a whole ocean of great films out there, but the only way most North Americans ever know they exist is if Hollywood remakes it.

I'm not bashing American film making. I mean, Hollywood is perfectly capable of making great films still, but it's just very sad that someone like Miyazaki is condemned because he doesn't use live actors. What exactly does that mean nowadays in CGI filmmaking anyways. I mean, I consider movies like the Star Wars prequels to be basically cartoons. At some point in the not-so-distant future CGI will have evolved to the point that real-looking people on the silver screen will be completely constructed.

Whether it's animated, black and white, foreign and dubbed or subtitled into English, or a Hollywood film, I want a good story told well.