Friday, March 04, 2005

lesson #78: howl's moving castle

Howl's Moving Castle is a FANTASTIC MOVIE! Watch it watch it watch it. And get blown away by Hayao Miyazaki's beautiful, beautiful world. The movie's based on the children book of the same title by Diana Wynne Jones. I think I read the book a long time ago, but kinda forgot the storyline. In any case, don't think the storyline's exactly the same.


The movie's basically about this girl called Sophie, who worked in a hat shop until one day, she went to visit her sister and the journey to her sister's workplace proved to be quite an adventure involving blobby black creatures and such. She basically made an evil witch (called the Witch of the Waste) angry and the witch cursed her into an old woman. Sophie decided to leave her hometown on a journey to break the spell, and she ended up as a cleaning lady for this wizard called Howl who lives in a moving castle. But not even the evil witch herself knows how to break the spell. How's she ever gonna get her youth back? She couldn't even tell anyone that she's enchanted (that's part of the curse).


I've just watched it and already I feel like watching it again. ARGH! There are so many questions left unanswered. The movie's so beautiful. There were sweet moments, touching moments, dumb moments, and the ending! It just fills you with warmth.



Charming. Have no idea how they did it, they managed to bring across the various aspects of his character beautifully.


*spoiler alert*


Like I said, the movie left you thinking even hours after you've left the theatre.
-Why didn't Sophie's hair turn to its original color? Was it because Howl said her hair looked like 'starlight'?
-Was she freed of the curse in the end?
-How DID she manage to turn young again, and is her regained youth forever, or only when she's feeling passionate and in love?
-Why did she turn back into a young woman when she's asleep at Howl's castle (with the exception of the first time she slept)? Does the presence of Howl mean anything?
-Why must Howl turn into a bird monster in order to fight the weird demon bombs thingummy? And where did those little winged demons come from anyway?
-How could Howl proclaim to Sophie that 'he's had enough of running away, that he has someone he wants to protect now' when he allegedly has no heart?
-Why did he have an exchange with Calcifer in the first place?


Ah. This movie is even better than Spirited Away.