Howl's Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki

Howl's Moving Castle is an animated film. I am still going to write about it, even though I am not certain if it fits the requirements of the blog. I have decided to write about it because seeing it on a big screen in an actual movie theatre gave me a new perspective on the film.
I saw it on Sunday night at the Brattle Theatre, and it was shown on film -rather dirty film.

I think seeing this movie in a theatre full of its fans transformed the film for me. When I saw it for the first time this past winter, I was with my friend in front of a television screen.
So, the theatre space affected my experience watching the film especially because other people were laughing -it made me feel more connected to the movie and to the concept of the film as a living, pulsing event that occurs in a time and space and will end. I felt contained in a community of an engaged audience, contained in the dark room, in my seat. This containment was immersing -I'm conceiving of it as a positive thing, expansive, not limiting.

An intriguing element of Howl's Moving Castle were the combining of realistic skies (clouds especially -looked like they were filmed from life, not drawn) with layers of colors, swirling galaxies of colors. Sequences with this effect were often transitional, about movement, showing time moving and the characters' traveling (also could be symbolic of the characters' personal development). I think it was the most abstract imagery I saw. I like that a film that was adapted from a book, so it has a strong plot and narrative element, but it still uses certain unexpected abstract images that depart from a simply narrative film.

Another example of unexpected visuals was the decorations of Howl's bedroom. Toys and other objects (mechanical or unidentifiable doo-dads) had either slight movement or rotated slowly. It seemed that all of the objects twinkled. They were primarily glimmering pinks, greens and metallics. My sight was completely drawn to the decorative objects' subtle motion and their reflection of bright light. I did not pay much attention to the scene's dialogue. This element and other rich, exciting images made me wonder about the significance of grand, fantastical imagery for the movie -how much meaning does it add to the film, in terms of the plot and characters? Does the spectacle of the film add to its narrative meaning?