Studio Ghibli Thoughts: Howl's Moving Castle

Howl’s Moving Castle may be one of the more difficult Hayao Miyazaki films to write about, as it can be seen as both a more complex and simpler film than his earlier work. If you want to look into the deeper meanings of the film, then you can see obvious allusions to pacifism, anti-ageism, and a critique of modernity. However, you can also view the film as a simple, unlikely love story between Sophie and the wizard Howl, as both learn to accept themselves and find family and friendship in their surroundings.

I think the tension between these two threads is one reason that the film has a polarizing reputation in the Studio Ghibli canon, with one of the studio’s most ardent fans, Roger Ebert, even giving the film a review of 2.5 stars.

The film begins with Sophie, a hatter's daughter, accidentally getting involved in the shenanigans of the wizard Howl and being cursed into becoming a 90-year-old woman for her troubles. As an old woman, Sophie feels more comfortable in her own skin, and without the pressures of youth and expectations, she eventually finds Howl’s titular moving castle and becomes his cleaning lady.

The castle is often considered one of the main characters of the film, and I believe that to be an accurate statement. Both mechanical and organic in design, this castle showcases Miyazaki at his most imaginative best in both design and animation. It provides an awesome backdrop for all the events that happen in the movie.

In the castle, Sophie discovers the lazy and nonchalant lifestyle of the wizard, and through her compassion and drive, she creates a family atmosphere in the castle that envelops all the characters in the story. So far, the story is simple enough, but it gets more complicated as a modern war erupts that threatens to not only destroy the new life Sophie and Howl started to build, but the lives of many Sophies and Howl’s in the world.

Although I can’t consider Howl’s Moving Castle one of Miyazaki’s best works, I honestly think that a lot of the negative views on the film are revisionist nonsense. Here is a film with many strong scenes and brilliant characters, all animated and designed to the best of Studio Ghibli’s abilities, making it an easy Mid-Tier Ghibli masterpiece. True, it does feel like too many plots are running at once, but that doesn’t matter when the central story and relationships are as strong as they are here.