Howl's Moving Castle

No matter how many times I watch Howl's Moving Castle, I will always see something new in the film. Even though this is one of my favorite Miyazaki films, I still can't remember everything I had watched. I still feel that I can't fully understand or analyze this film. However, I do feel that I have a grasp on some of his themes.

One of the things that I noticed in the film is the way Sophie changes back and forth between young and old. Throughout the film Sophie is constantly changing in physical form in a very gradual pace. It is hard sometimes to even know if there is any change at all. However, during scenes when her transformations between young and old are obvious, she changes based on how she feels about herself. When Sophie feels indecisive, she begins to grow old. When she is confident and decides to make a choice she reverts back you her youth. Another thing I found interesting about her transformation is the fact that by the end of the film, Sophie doesn't actually change back to her original form but into something slightly new. After Sophie cuts her braid and is young again, her hair color remains gray. I saw this scene as a sense of growth in the character as well as a reminder that we are constantly moving forward. This idea is also shown in Miyazaki's other films such as Kiki's Delivery Service. For example, we see at the end of the film that Kiki's powers are restored but she also loses her ability to speak to Jiji.

Other themes that is noticed is the idea of war being flawed. No matter how righteous its cause, war will always break down the human spirit. We see this occurring through Howl's participation in the war as he transforms from human to monster. Although we aren't quite clear as to why there was a war in the first place, I felt that Miyazaki left in unclear in order to express that all wars are bad. There is need for anyone to know the reason for the war because there is no such thing as a good war.

The last theme is the concept of no one being able to live alone. Throughout the film, we see Sophie encounter characters who eventually become part of her new family. It was with each others help that Sophie and Howl were able to break their curses. It also wasn't until after they realized their feelings for each other as well as their refusal to runaway from their problems that the two found a sense of purpose in life. In the final scene, we see Sophie riding on the new flying castle along with Howl, Markl, Calcifer, the Witch of the Waste, as well as the dog.