Howl’s Moving Castle
My sister and I did our first text watch of the year as she is now back in London. I had seen some of Hayao Miyasaki work before like Kiki’s Delivery service, Castle in the Sky and Spirited Away before and had really enjoyed those films. I had not seen this film before, but Verity had, and she had liked it previously. I watched this film in English because I was feeling lazy.
Summary of film (No major spoilers)
The film is about a quiet teenage girl who makes hats for a living. One day she is cursed by the Witch of the Waste and turned into an old woman. She is unable to tell anyone about what has happened to her and is ashamed of her appearance, so she decides to head for the hills to find a magician to break the curse. She finds the notorious moving castle owned by the legendary wizard Howl. In the castle she befriends the enslaved fire demon of Howl named Calcifer and a young boy named Markl. Calcifer agrees to help Sophie with her problem however there is a catch she has to help him be free of Howl.
What I liked
The artwork in this film is beautiful. I especially liked one scene where the main characters stop the moving castle near a lake and the way the lake reflects the sky on its surface looks very real for hand drawn pictures. I also loved a shot of a tree where the leaves had incredibly real texture and detail. So much better than when I draw trees (I’m terrible at drawing trees).
I really liked the supporting characters. The fire demon character Calcifer was my favourite because I thought he was very funny. I thought it was clever when someone was cooking food and he would actually eat the food while cooking it. I am a big Billy Crystal fan. I also liked Turnip (the moving scarecrow who was actually another person under a curse). His movements were incredibly fun to watch.
What I didn’t like constructive criticism
I found the plot very confusing and messy at times. My main problem with the film was how Sophie frequently changes her age throughout the film. I was like why is she young again? and found it distracting. I did some research on this and found out something interesting: A fan theory is that the curse Sophie is under affects her insecurities, confidence, and emotions. At the start of the film, she thought she was boring, plain and had no confidence. When she gains confidence in herself, she becomes younger. This happens far more often towards the end of the film. Another theory is that as the film proceeds, she falls in love with Howl and love breaks the curse.
I did not like the two lead characters. I found Howl very brooding and at times a real diva. He seemed to only care about himself at times although at other time he did seem to be a conflicted person. Calcifer was the character I felt the most for and I did not like the way Howl treated him at times. I did not like young Sophie as I just found her boring. This is kind of ironic given the fan theory I found out about her. They were both very emo so maybe they suited each other perfectly.
Verity’s Views
Right, so I saw this film for the first time about 10 years ago. I remember loving it and the character design/art work stood out to me very vividly. On viewing for a second time, I still feel that way about the art work- the visuals of the house are incredible, I’d say one of of the most striking designs in any animated film. There’s some incredible shots of sea, grass and sky that glisten and sway and feel truly alive. I love the concept of the front door being able to open on different locations, that is the dream. The Witch of the Waste has a fierce outfit, and is a pretty interesting villain (however the villains swap halfway through, rather confusingly). There’s also a wheezy little dog I enjoyed...
However, despite this, on rewatching the film, overall... I was quite disappointed. I agree with Rowan, the problem is the two main characters. They are just really annoying. Howl’s is a real emo, voiced by not-growly-voiced-but-still-several-leagues-far- too-deep-intense Christian Bale. Softboi Howl has made a slave of Billy-Crystal-Fireball, who is a great character, interestingly designed, with fun comic pieces and a story with depth and sympathy. He is not on screen enough (I feel this about Billy Crystal in everything though...)
Our heroine Sophie is a pretty wet too, she grows in bravery and confidence throughout the story, but I feel purely because she fancies Howl. Lame. To me, she’s nowhere near as resourceful or likeable as say Kiki in ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ or Shiro in ‘Spirited Away’. The plotting is a bit haphazard, and it’s over-long- the ending third of the films particularly drags. Yikes. I feel like I trashed this quite hard. Despite all this, I would say it is definitely worth a watch, particularly if you love Studio Ghibli. The world-building they do is always inspiring and exciting, and no one animates food like them. I mean, look at this chuffing bacon and eggs. 😋
Conclusion and rating
Over all my feelings about the film are very mixed. I thought the film was visually stunning and I loved looking at the landscapes. There were parts of the film I thought were very clever like the architecture of the moving castle. However, some of the time I found the film very confusing. I think I would rate this film a 6/10. The film might be better and make more sense after a rewatch.
Sample of text messages back and forth
Contains Spoilers
(Opening scene)
Me: I like the hats.
Verity: same.
Me: No village idiot hats in this film.
Verity: you are right. I’m sorry I gave you a hat complex.
(Verity is referring to the fact that in textiles I had to make a hat. I was immensely proud of said hat, which was red with lots of different coloured buttons sewn on. Verity however told me I looked like a village idiot nearly every time I wore it. I do admit I did make it a bit too big for me which is weird as I had measured my head before I started making it. I developed a village idiot hat complex after that as I was afraid that every hat made me look odd. However, Verity has said that the hat I made is the only one that made me look like an idiot).
Verity’s views:
A PUBLIC APOLOGY
The hat looked like a plant pot with buttons stuck all over it. It really was Bill and Ben The Flowerpot Men realness, and it was not chic. However, I have never made a hat, and I’m sure if I ever had or did it would be sincerely shit. Nevertheless, I’m forever remorseful that I’ve given Rowan issues around hat wearing.
(Howl Appears for the first time. Two guards also appear)
Me: nice necklace. He has 2000’s guy hair. That escalated quickly.
Verity: Yes, those guys came out of nowhere. Howl is very emo.
Me: She’s emo too.
Verity: She’s super emo. Love the Effie Trinket get up.
(Scene Where Witch appears)
Me: Creepy lady. Did she borrow Rose’s hat from titanic?
Verity: She looks a bit like Rose. A scary version.
Me: So Rose turned evil after Jack?
Verity: Super evil.
(Sophie is cursed into an old lady and flees into the countryside)
Me: I like the yellow dress.
Verity: Same, Weird hat though. Why does it have pistons on it?
Me: Hahaha 90-year-old woman.
Verity: bread and cheese feast of queens! Choo choo.
Me: prejudice against turnips.
Verity: Jump Jump Jump. Very Mary Poppinsy.
Me: She’s very adventurous.
(Howls moving castle appears)
Verity: Do you like the design?
Me: Yes, it looks like how I imagined London to look in Mortal engines only smaller.
Verity: Yes, I agree.
Me: This film moves quite fast.
Verity: Calcifer! Great name!
Me: Is he related to Lumiere? (beauty and the beast)
Verity: Yes, I would think so. If you could have four places leading out of our door. Where would you pick?
Me: More bread and cheese.
Verity: You would pick to go for more bread and cheese?
Me: no lol.
Verity: Look at the bacon. Emo king is here.
Me: A beach, A private tearoom, a secret garden.
(Verity looks up who does the voice of the English dubbed Calcifer).
Verity: its billy Crystal!
Me: I love Billy Crystal!!
Verity: same.
Sophie goes shopping with Markl.
Me: He’s like me I don’t like potatoes.
Verity: hahahahahaha.
Howl appears to be having a tantrum about his bathroom products
Verity: what a diva!
Me: Red hair and a hand me down robe you must be a Weasley!
Verity: hahaha.
Me: Now he’s snape.
Me: Wow he’s like Ramona Flowers, (Scott Pilgrim) changing his hair colour every day or week
Time jump as I cant list all of our texts. By the way I wasn’t listing them all before
Escaping from the palace
Me: it’s a trap! Star wars!
Verity: haha.
Me: second star to the right and straight on til morning. The tree artwork is fantastic. Don’t try to be cute I’m still not going to trust you. Poor Calcifer. You say I snore.
Verity: I agree about the tree art and yes you do snore.
Verity: Her old/ young chopping changing is very confusing.
Me. Yes, it is a little.
Verity: is it meant to have some coherence?
Me: I find it interesting that a lot of Hayao Miyazaki films normally have one magical person and another person who is brought into the magical world.
Verity: yes clap!
Me: I like this film but sometimes I think it moves to fast and in lots of directions.
Verity: agreed. The plot is messy!
Me: constructive criticism.
Me: zombies! Or are they teenage mutant ninja turtles.
Verity: yes, that’s what they are. He really needs to stop running away from her.
Howl in past and present. Turnip becomes human.
Verity: I’m infused lol not infused confused!
Me: what are you infused with lavender? Honey?
Verity: yeah baybee! Guilderoy Lockheart is here.
Me: ok then, hahaha. it’s really confusing.
Ending
Verity: Sophie is just snogging everyone.
Me: I have a lot of feelings about the film. Very mixed feelings.
Verity: outfit change for Sophie. Tell me more about your opinions on this film.
Me: I think it is visually stunning and I really like most of the characters apart from the two leads. However, the plot is all over the place and at times it was hard to care. I cared about Calcifer the most.
Verity: Saaammee. I think that’s some fair criticism.
Me: Am I wrong for not liking the two leads? It’s clever but confusing.
Verity: You’re not wrong also the villains shift around.
Me; Title of my sex tape clever but confusing. (That’s a Brooklyn Nine Nine reference).
Verity: haha.
The end
