In which Mark lambasts a Miyazaki film
So, I saw Howl's Moving Castle yesterday. Speaking as someone who first read the book many, many years ago and has read it many times since, I would have to say that this was probably the worst mutilation of a book on its way to the screen that I've ever seen. The result was a plotless mess - good looking, to be sure, but nonetheless a plotless mess.
The vast majority of the original story has been thrown away and replaced with what seem to be little more than recycled plot elements from earlier Studo Ghibli productions, and what scenes have been kept have either been distorted or just seem out-of-place within the new order. Virtually the entire cast have gone through complete character assassinations, including a number of 180° flips on what I would loosely term the good/evil axis.
( Collapse )In short, if you've read the book, don't go and see the film unless you're prepared to accept most of what you like about it being gone. If you haven't read the book, I'm less well positioned to judge what you'll make of the film, but I suggest that you read the book instead...
