Castle in the Sky

The first film under the Studio Ghibli banner and one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most revered classics. A young boy stumbles into a mysterious girl who floats down from the sky. The girl, Sheeta, was chased by pirates, army and government secret agents. In saving her life, they begin a high flying adventure that goes through all sorts of flying machines, eventually searching for Sheeta's identity in a floating castle of a lost civilization.

Review from Cinema From the Spectrum

Much like Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky was a film that had been a favourite of mine when I was very young but it was also one that I never came back to until just recently. As I watch the film again as an adult, Castle in the Sky doesn’t only hit me again with that same magic like it did as a kid but I’m still in awe at how perfectly constructed it is – which is just about everything I could ever want from any of Miyazaki’s films.

Opting for a much less dense plot compared to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky starts with a very fitting note: a young girl named Sheeta has been abducted by the agent Muska as his airship is being attacked by Dola’s air pirate gang. Setting the tone for the adventure is the image of Sheeta as she falls from the airship, with a descent slowed down by her magical pendant landing into the company of Pazu, a young boy living in a small mining town. Together, Pazu and Sheeta embark on a search for Laputa (referencing Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels), a legendary floating island in the sky. Despite opting for more straightforward storytelling, Miyazaki never lets down on the excitement to come by, making Castle in the Sky more than just one of the best animated films of all time.

Where Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind succeeds in creating a perfect parable for our times through a beautiful post-apocalyptic vision, Castle in the Sky takes upon an approach more influenced by classic literature whilst retaining many of the themes that had built Studio Ghibli’s long legacy. Even then, there’s a whole lot to love about the way in which Studio Ghibli crafts the many worlds that they bring to the screen, for Miyazaki allows his imagination to shine at great lengths and provide the most immersive experiences possible with the seemingly impossible. As per usual for the course, Castle in the Sky boasts incredibly beautiful animation – but also his most dedicated and wonderfully constructed world-building, adding more to the wonder found within even the tiniest detail.

Read the rest of the review from Jaime Rebanal here...