Formal Review of "The African Queen"

                The African Queen is the kind of movie I remember watching with my grandmother when I was a little girl. It is based off of a novel by the same name, which was written by C.S. Forester. The film begins in a missionary church in Africa with our female lead, Rose Sayer, playing the organ during a service. The service finally ends when our male lead, Charlie Allnut, interrupts the service with a mail delivery. However, when German troupes destroy the village and capture the natives, causing Rose’s brother to have a mental breakdown and pass away, Charlie takes Rose off on his boat, The African Queen, to hide out until the trouble has passed. Unsurprisingly, things don’t stay calm for very long as Rose comes up with the mad idea to use The African Queen and some homemade torpedoes to destroy The Queen Louisa, a German gunboat, in the name of Brittan. As Charlie and Rose travel down an extremely dangerous portion of the river, the two slowly begin to fall in love with each other, despite being polar opposites. When the pair finally make it to their destination, they are caught by the Germans before they are able to carry out their plan. In the grand finale the lovers ask to be married before being hung, however, they are rescued just before their execution when the remnants of The African Queen, fit with torpedoes rigged up by Charlie, hitting the side of the very ship they are on. Charlie and Rose escape unscathed and swim to shore to begin their new life together. The African Queen is an old fashioned romance about two very different people, but its graphics definitely show its age.

                The African Queen isn’t quite Hallmark levels of sweetness in its portrayal of romance, but its close…and that isn’t a bad thing. It was made back when people thought a little bit differently about love. Despite Charlie’s crass nature, he still treats Rose like a lady from the very beginning. He brings the mail to Rose and her brother whenever it comes in, helps Rose burry her brother after he passes, and even lets Rose sleep under roofed part of the boat, which has been sectioned off for decency’s sake, at night. It is during this first night of sectioned off sleeping quarters that the two begin to open up to one another. When it begins pouring down rain, Charlie tries his hardest to sleep through it, but eventually gives in and sneaks under the roof where Rose is sleeping, scaring her witless. After initially kicking him out, Rose takes pity on the sopping wet Charlie and, after making herself decent, allows him to come inside and sleep on top of a wide shelf under the roof. When he is still getting wet from being so close to the edge of the boat, Rose gives Charlie her umbrella to help keep him dry. As the film continues it becomes apparent that the term, “opposites attract” is anything but a new subject when it comes to romance on the silver screen. At the beginning of the film, Rose seems to be an uptight, ladylike, conservative woman with very little tolerance for men like Charlie. However, as the film continues she surprises both Charlie and the viewer by revealing that she may, indeed, be a touch insane. It is Rose’s idea to rig up homemade torpedoes to The African Queen and hurtle it toward the German gunship in the name of Brittan. It is Rose who insists on traveling down the most dangerous part of the river, then gets an adrenaline rush from steering the boat over the rapids. In part, it may be this wilder side of Rose that attracts Charlie initially. However, Rose’s willingness to get her hands dirty and work hard to accomplish her goals may also be a feature Charlie finds attractive. Although Charlie’s character does not change very much throughout the film, he does become much gentler toward Rose and even, eventually, wants to see her accomplish her goal even though he finds it completely ridiculous. He makes Rose tea when she finds his combination of alcohol and river water unappealing, is fairly understanding when she dumps said alcohol over the side of the boat and into the river, and is even the one to suggest that they get married before they are hung to death by the Germans. Rose and Charlie’s romance is very innocent and very sweet, never going beyond more than a kiss. Despite its relatively simple appearance, I believe that Rose and Charlie’s romance is one of the better relationships to appear on screen.

                Despite its wonderfully constructed romance, The African Queen does have its flaws. First, being an older film, its special effects do not hold up especially well today. They are by no means terrible, but they do not hold up the same illusion of reality as I imagine they once did. There were several instances where it was very obvious that the projections behind the actors where just that: projections. There was also one very immersion breaking scene where Rose and Charlie are suddenly swarmed by insects. However, these insects were nothing more than a series of blotches flashing across the screen. It was difficult to take the scene seriously as, with the film’s improved clarity on DVD, these blotches did not resemble flying insects in the slightest. Something else I noticed about the film was that its moments of purposeful suspense were not all that suspenseful, while other scenes that may not have been intended to be suspenseful built tension perfectly. For instance, not once did I find myself worried or concerned for Charlie and Rose while they went over the rapids, while they were being shot at by soldiers, or when they were about to be hung. Instead, I felt the most concern during the film’s quieter scenes. When The African Queen became stuck in the mud and Rose and Charlie were working to get it unstuck I felt genuine concern for both of them. There was no music and there was hardly any dialogue at all during this scene. This scene transitioned perfectly into the next with Rose getting on her knees and praying to the Lord, not to be saved from the perilous situation she finds herself in, but that she and Charlie would be welcomed into His kingdom should they die. This was the only scene in the entire movie that made me truly fear that the two of them would not make it out alive.

                Despite its very few flaws, The African Queen was an absolutely charming and family friendly film. While I doubt that many members of my generation will choose to watch this delightful movie, I think that those who do stand a very good chance of enjoying it at least a little bit. This film had so much heart, good will, and downright fun in it that I look forward to sharing it with my own family someday. While the film’s slower pace, older graphics, and old fashioned romance may not be exactly what viewers are asking for today, I think we all could stand to watch more films like The African Queen. 

Informal Review of "Howl's Moving Castle"

                Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and based on the novel by Wynne Jones, is by far one of my favorite films that the company has produced thus far. When mild-mannered Sophie is turned into an old woman by The Witch of the Waste, she sets out to find a way to break the curse. However, seeking help proves to be difficult as the curse prevents her from telling anyone about it. After leaving home and meeting Turnip Head, so named because he is a scarecrow whose head is made from a turnip, he leads her to the infamous moving castle that belongs to the equally as infamous wizard, Howl. Here Sophie meets not only Howl, but a fire demon, named Calcifer, and Markl, Howl’s apprentice. Now, Sophie must not only break her own curse but Howl’s as well, all while avoiding partaking in a war between two kingdoms over a missing prince. Howl’s Moving Castle showcases what Studio Ghibli does best (aside from storytelling, which I will not address as this was not one of their original stories): compose amazing musical scores and produce amazingly detailed animation.

                The musical score of Howl’s Moving Castle is by far my favorite out of all the Studio Ghibli films I have seen, and I actually own the film’s main theme, “The Merry-go-round of Life.” Every scene is accompanied by a song that perfectly suits the mood of the scene. These moods range from comical, to sad, to intense, and anything in-between. Even the ending them, “Sekai No Yakusoku” helps the film to close on the perfect note.

                Perhaps the most fantastic element of any Studio Ghibli film is the amount of the detail added to the animation, and Howl’s Moving Castle is no exception. First, we have the film’s backgrounds. Normally, backgrounds have just enough detail that you can tell what they are meant to represent. In Howl’s Moving Castle, however, there are quite a few backgrounds that encompass an impressive amount of detail. For instance, during the dream sequence in which Sophie wanders through a series of tunnels to find a transformed and suffering Howl, various toys and trinkets can be seen sticking out of the walls (many of which were seen in Howl’s room, yet another incredibly detailed background). Not only that, but we see the light of Sophie’s candle reflect not only off of the walls as she moves, but also off of every single item in said walls. This brings me to the detail of the animation itself. For example, while Sophie is cleaning we see her attack various areas of the castle with a broom. Whenever she pulls the broom back, various pieces of junk can be seen moving around. During these sequences we also get close ups of various bugs creeping along as trash and dirt tumble around them. These little details make not only the world of Howl’s Moving Castle feel alive, but also those of every world Ghibli chooses to bring to life.

                Perhaps I’m biased because I love both Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, but I really can find very few flaws in this film. The one flaw I may point out is one I have noticed in other adaptations the company has done, which is that they often don’t give enough exposition for the audience to truly understand the story being presented. I understand a fair amount of the story after watching the film so many times, despite not having read the book myself. However, I can see how others would be confused by this film or even find it a little too bizarre due to its strange story and sometimes odd visuals. Regardless, I will always love this film and others made by Studio Ghibli for their ability to bring various stories and worlds to life through the use of music and animation.