Howl's Moving Castle Summary
Howl's Moving Castle is a film adapted from the novel of the same name by British writer – Diana Wynne Jones. Therefore, although built by Japanese filmmakers, Howl's Moving Castle still wears a luxurious, ancient look and a part of British cultural beauty.
The film follows Sophie - a gentle, self-contained girl who is trying to maintain her family's long-standing handmade hat-making shop in the face of the changing upheavals of contemporary society.
During a visit to her sister, she was teased by soldiers and was lucky to be freed by Howl - The handsome wizard who owns the famous mobile castle.
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It was this event that attracted the attention of the Witch of the Desert , who was always searching for Howl's heart. In a fit of jealousy, the Witch of the Wild turned Sophie into a 90-year-old old woman. She decided to leave the small town to find a way to break this curse.
Along the way, Sophie befriends a scarecrow and calls it Turnip Head. She went into Howl's mobile castle and encountered the fire demon Calcifer . Calcifer promises to break Sophie's curse if she frees him from his fateful bond with Howl. Sophie decides to stay at Howl's castle as a cleaner. From here, Sophie began an interesting journey with the wizard Howl and fell in love with him.
Howl's Moving Castle's greatest success is its creative image building. The first must mention the castle of the magician Howl, a castle that is always on the move, can transform into different shapes.
The main door of the Castle will lead you anywhere in the world. On the other hand, the magical setting in the suburbs between the two kingdoms, seems to belong to 19th century Europe, makes any audience captivated by the colorful, mesmerizing frames.
Music is also a part of what makes Howl's Moving Castle so appreciated, the "the merry go round of life" soundtrack takes viewers around the world and makes the world in Howl's Moving Castle come to life. and dream like never before.
The sound of the film is also perfectly built from Sophie's tired sigh after a tiring day of work to the sound of the castle's collapse at the end of the film, which is enough for viewers to know the magnificence and furniture. its massive.
Explain Howl's Moving Castle
Contrary to the attractiveness of the excellent visuals and soundtrack, Howl's Moving Castle e is a complicated story with many intertwined events and different layers of meaning.
Surely, many viewers after watching, still cannot understand how Sophie's curse was solved and whether the love development between Howl and Sophie is really convincing?
Sophie's Curse
Sophie is cursed with old age and cannot tell this story to anyone. The Witch of the Desert is the one who casts a curse but doesn't know how to solve it. Some theories suggest that Sophie's curse is not only related to her appearance but also represents who she is inside.
Sophie is inherently a self-deprecating, shy and somewhat old-fashioned girl compared to her peers. In the movie, after being cursed, there are segments where Sophie is restored to her youthful shape, that's when she can return to being herself, back to youth and love.
That's when she overcomes her inferiority complex and shyness to become strong and courageous to protect those she loves. But as long as Sophie has a little self-doubt, that old, ugly figure will return. Towards the end of the film, viewers can see a young and radiant Sophie because she bravely embraced her love and destiny.
Howl and Sophie's love
A lot of people thought that the feelings between Howl and Sophie did not develop convincingly enough. Because, Howl is a handsome, romantic wizard who has the power to seduce any girl who meets him. However, most of the time Sophie was with Howl in the form of an old woman.
The most likely explanation is that Howl knew Sophie was cursed from the beginning. And best of all, their love story actually comes from a long time in Howl's past. There is a scene in the film when Sophie is brought back to Howl's childhood, where she is told to find her in the future, she will save Howl from royal ties.
Back at the beginning of the film, when Howl meets and saves Sophie from the patrols, Howl says, "Honey, here I am. Sorry for being late, I've been looking for you everywhere . This was not a saying to scare away the soldiers, but a saying he had kept for many years just waiting to meet her, who had promised Howl to save him.
As for Sophie, Howl's experiences in the moving castle, uncovering his past hurts and getting to know him better not only made her realize she was in love with him, but that love helped her. She stepped out of her comfort zone and bravely embraced the happiness that had long belonged to her.
Howl character building
Compared to the original novel, the film has a similar plot, but the filmmaking style and events have been changed by Miyazaki quite a lot. In the novel, Howl is simply a handsome witch who accompanies Sophie on the way to dispel the curse, but in the movie Howl is built more multidimensionally.
Howl – A handsome man but many flaws: likes to tease girls, children, likes to groom and always runs away, etc. A man full of mysteries and no one can understand him well. ta.
But at the hands of Miyazaki (a pacifist), he blew that pacifist thought into the character of Howl. Howl's bizarre temperament can be explained by the fact that he must always flee from the summons of the royal family, who always try to force him to participate in pointless war.
Howl's Moving Castle
When watching Howl's Moving Castle, viewers can easily realize Howl and the castle, specifically Calcifer, have a connection. If you worked hard to link the details of the movie along the time axis, Howl first swallowed the star enchanted by the royal wizard Soliman .
It was this star that created the fire Calcifer, and Calcifer was also Howl's heart. Calcifer holds Howl's heart, in return Calcifer will operate the mobile castle for Howl - which Howl uses to hide.
The castle is also the representative of Howl, always hiding, not daring to face his problems. It is only at the end of the film, when Howl tries to protect the woman he loves and stands up to solve his problems, that his heart escapes from Calcifer and returns to Howl's body, breaking all curses.
Howl's Moving Castle is not only a romantic adventure in the magical world of magic but also a journey where the characters dare to go beyond their comfort zone to grow up and bravely reach full happiness. final.
The film's meaningful message is also reflected in Howl's peace-loving attitude and Sophie's benevolence and tolerance after the curses and jealousy from the enemy.