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He moves the castle, heats the water, and basically keeps everything running. I love Calcifer (Billy Crystal), a dire demon with a mysterious connection to Howl. The other characters in the film are great too.
#HOWLS MOVING CASTLE MOVIE#
This movie feels a lot like a fairy tale, and I love that about it. The curse the Witch puts on Sophie is never explicitly explained, and I think that’s a good thing. I love the way her curse gradually breaks through her interactions with Howl, occasionally regressing when the situation worsens. It helps that Christian Bale has excellent chemistry with Emily Mortimer and Jean Simmons, the latter of whom plays old Sophie. Two complicated people become the best versions of themselves together. Romance is one of my least favorite genres, but this is how it should be done. The two constantly challenge one another and bring out the best in each other. Sophie gradually stands up to Howl when, before, she allowed everyone to walk and talk over her. She inspires Howl, who is emboldened by his desire to protect her and their little family. Sophie gains confidence and spirit as an old lady, throwing herself into work to distract from her bad situation.
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The best part of these flawed individuals is that they elevate one another. Of course, this all comes off as nonsensical whining to Sophie, who’s never once felt beautiful. This also lines up with his treatment of the Witch of the Waste she’s after him and Sophie because he dumped her when he decided she wasn’t beautiful. When Sophie accidentally mixes up Howl’s hair dye, he throws a tantrum, exclaiming that life isn’t worth living if he can’t be beautiful. When Sophie lives with Howl, we see something else entirely Howl is lazy, cowardly, and incredibly vain. He has the presence of a gentleman and the reputation of a cad who preys on young girls. Then Sophie’s sister Lettie (Jena Malone) assures her that it couldn’t have been Howl because he would have eaten her heart. When Howl rescues Sophie, we briefly see him as this handsome, charming man of mystery. The way they present Howl throughout the film is also very effective. I especially like that this is conveyed almost exclusively through Sophie’s words and actions the other characters don’t describe her as naive or insecure, and there’s no narrator spoon-feeding us this information. Sophie also completely misreads the situation with the Witch of the Waste, trying to talk down someone she believes is just a customer. She’s also awkward in situations where others try to throw their weight around who knows what would have happened with the guards if Howl (Christian Bale) hadn’t arrived when he did. Sophie genuinely doesn’t think she’s beautiful enough to draw the attention of a wizard who supposedly consumes beautiful women’s hearts. She’s self-deprecating, but not in a snarky way. I love Sophie because her flaws are so believable, particularly for a single young woman. A movie’s characters tend to make it or break it for me, and the leads in Howl’s Moving Castle are particularly strong.
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There’s a lot to talk about in H owl’s Moving Castle. While Sophie learns Howl’s secrets and the two grow closer, a war rages between Ingary and its neighboring kingdom, whose Prince has gone missing. There, she finds a living scarecrow who leads her to Howl’s moving castle, where she stays on as a cleaning lady.
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However, they’re seen together by agents of The Witch of the Waste, who curses Sophie with old age, merely telling her, “Give my regards to Howl.” Sophie ventures out into the waste, an unkempt and mostly uninhabited tract of land to which the kingdom banished the Witch. Sophie’s humdrum existence is interrupted when a pair of royal guards harass her in the street, and a magnificent stranger protects her, whisking her away. She’s insecure about her appearance, shy, and easily intimidated. In Ingary, a fictional land where magic coexists with early-20th century technology, Sophie (Emily Mortimer) is an ordinary girl who runs her late father’s hat shop. However, the results of the adaptations couldn’t be more different. Howl’s Moving Castle is based on a novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones, an author the studio would revisit with their most recent film, Earwig and the Witch. I reviewed the former a while back, and the latter is one of the main reasons I wanted to review Studio Ghibli’s output. I like most Studio Ghibli movies, but my absolute favorites have to be Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle.