Howl's Moving Castle

Easily one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Go and watch it.

Given my enthusiasm for animation, I don't know how I've escaped seeing any anime until now, but I was just enchanted by this - I think I might have found something to explore. I went with Jenny from work, who'd read the Diana Wynne Jones novel it was based on, and while she enjoyed the adaptation she said that the film gradually lost grip with the book as it progressed. Not having read it, that didn't bother me, and I managed to be delighted right up until the ending, which was rather syrupy. (That's what you get for being distributed by Buena Vista.)

If the style of this film is typical of anime (excuse my naivete) then it's perfectly suited to the fantasy novel - there's something about the cleanliness of the lines, the purity of the image that you just don't see in Western animation that really complements the genre. It's like being in King's Quest or something. Visually, it's just spectacular - I couldn't believe that so many intricate images and ideas could fit into one person's brain. And I never thought I could be put at the brink of tears by a turnip on a stick. Apart from the old Beauty and the Beast routine (which I'm still a sucker for) it has a very clear anti-war message. There's a lovely part where the main characters watch a battleship fly over their heads. Hopefully, she says, "Do you suppose it's one of ours?" He says, "What does it matter?" Quite.

I'll stop gushing now if you'll go and see it.