Howl's Moving Castle and the Beauty of the World

     What does the word "Film" mean to you? It's a really vague term, I'm sure. People all across the world have different perspectives on what a film, or a movie, is to them. For many cinephiles, their love of film mostly stems from analyzing it as an art form, something in which beauty is critiqued at a mostly technical level, where the skills of the cinematographer and director are valued along with the coherence of the script and the performances of the actors. To the mass majority of people, they mostly get a kick out of the spectacle of cinema; the grand-scale set pieces, and the dazzling visual effects on display. They go to the movies to enjoy a form of escapism from their daily lives. However, there's a specific type of quality that nearly everyone who has ever seen a film looks for: The human or emotional aspect of a film. 

  Whether it be the crushing and heartbreaking death of a beloved character, or the inspirational ending of a feel-good sports drama, the medium of film is packed with the emotion and feelings of what it is to be human. Even in the coldest of films (i.e. David Fincher Films), there is still some type of emotion to be felt. And the films that resonate with the audiences are the ones that are remembered the most fondly. One of my favorite YouTubers is HiTop Films, not because of his personal tastes in films, but because of how his content reflects the very human and pathetic (Relating to the emotions) aspect of film, the very value that I look for in a film.

    Now, art and film are a solely subjective medium, and not everyone has the same feelings on a certain film. One film can be polarizing. A certain audience loves it, and the other audience abhors it.  For me, the films that are my favorite are the ones that inspire me the most, that give me valuable life lessons, or are a general part of what makes Matthew "Matthew." To me, if a film can evoke emotion, that is one thing. But if it is able to teach valuable morals and principles to people, then that is ever so amazing.  One of the reasons I'm such a huge Disney enthusiast is that their films aren't just films for the sake of entertainment. They're capable of giving anyone hope, something everyone needs in life. Pinocchio was possibly the favorite of the silent generation. It gave them hope about the good in people, and taught them that hard work and good morals will do you well in life. For my current generation, our favorite films would be the Marvel films. They were the largest events, and they have the ability to empower people (i.e. Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Spider-Man). The point is that everyone has their own favorite. For me, that film is Howl's Moving Castle. 

       "BuT MaTthew I Thought Your FaVorite was KuBo!" Woah, woah. Slow down there. On rewatches, Kubo is still fantastic, but it just doesn't mean as much. It's a fantastic film on a technical level, but it doesn't hit me emotionally. It's still one of my favorites though. 

     Prior to having seen Howl's Moving Castle, I had been aware of its existence since middle school. In 8th grade, I somehow found a cover of "Merry Go Round of Life," the main theme of the film, on YouTube, and instantly fell in love with the film. I attempted to learn the song on the piano, but as it turns out, I was not a very skilled pianist, and thus, the piece was easily out of my league in terms of difficulty. I still loved the song, and played it on the way to school almost every day that year. As for the actual film, however, 13-year old Matthew could not care less about the film. The only Studio Ghibli film that I had viewed before listening to "Merry Go Round of Life" was Spirited Away, a fantastic film. Much of the Studio Ghibli catalog had interested me. Mononoke was notable for its grandiose scale and spectacle. Nausicaa was interesting for its thematic depth and unique style. Whisper of the Heart appealed to me because they used the Country Roads song (Yes, that's really the reason). The Wind Rises spoke to my personal dreams to be an Engineer. But Howl? What was there to hook me? An old lady protagonist? At the time, I was also hearing some mixed responses on the film itself, furthering my own distance from the film. The following year, I slowly grew out of my "anime" phase, and moved on with my life. 

So how did I come back to Howl and Sophie? It's kind of a funny story, actually. During this quarantine, I've had specific playlists depending on the mood I was in, and being the person I am, decided to make a playlist that encapsulated the beauty of the world and life itself, from the euphoria of love, to the beautiful dreams of many. The song that immediately struck me as perfect was the song "Promise of the World." Having grown more since my middle school years, the aesthetic and sheer beauty of the composition inspired me to actually check out the adventures of Sophie and family this time around. I gave Howl's Moving Castle a watch, and adored it to the moon and back. 

  First, I'll look at Howl's Moving Castle from a technical standpoint, or how I assume a normal fim reviewer would review the film. One of the most immediately noticeable qualities about the film is its striking use of color, and the art direction in general. It feels like a painting, evoking a sense of impressionism (especially with the naturalistic backgrounds), an art style I'm very fond of. The characters are all distinct and fun. Sophie herself is a great protagonist, having a dynamic arc, and a good bit of spunk and backbone as well. It's that good bit of writing that Miyazaki gets right. His female protagonists are strong willed, but they also have traits that make them feel much more human. Calcifer may seem like a comic relief character that's there to balance out the quite dramatic stakes the film has to offer. However, towards the end, Calcifer becomes something in lieu of the "heart" of the film, a twist that was generally welcome after marathoning the Disney Renaissance recently. The score is quite gorgeous, as I have already stated, having the elegance of a ballroom. Something that generally took me by surprise was that the film itself does not choose to hold your hand. What I'm trying to convey is that the intro is quite quick, and events are set in motion. The mechanics and features of Sophie's world are not exactly spelled out or explained. Rather, they are seen. The movie tells a lot of the story through its visuals rather than exposition. The war between lands is not referenced as much as you would think. However, the effects and consequences of such a war are shown in their full horror. Miyazaki doesn't shy away from it either. There are also several plot points that are brought up, but are quietly resolved or forgotten about (Ex. Sophie's biological family, Witch of the Waste), but these quiet dissolutions of story threads is understandable, because Miyazaki chooses to use these storylines to further those that he sees as the most important. Still, it would have been nice to see some further closure on those story beats. The film is also quite long for an animated film. For a Ghibli film, it is quite standard of a runtime, but when compared to the runtimes of Dreamworks and Pixar films, it roughly runs 15-20 minutes longer. The film is varied enough such that the film doesn't drag for the most part. However, mostly in the middle chunk of the film, a sense of aimlessness does tend to arise. The character of Howl himself is a mysterious figure that the film slowly unravels, but it still feels a bit unfulfilling to not have the fully painted portrait of Howl as a person. The ending genuinely feels abrupt in how the story as a whole wraps up. On the whole, though, the story of Sophie and her new family is a unique experience.

   One further aspect that I noticed in Howl's Moving Castle is the startling lack of "WOW" factor moments in the film. To define what I mean by this phrase, I generally describe them as standout moments in the film in which there are major story/character developments or large spectacle action sequences that feel exhilarating or triumphant. Examples would be the skateboard chase in Back to the Future, Spirited Away's "Reprise" moment, or just about any action sequence from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie doesn't really have any moments that can be singled out as "exciting." A majority of the film is Sophie learning about the Castle, about her new friends, and or just cleaning around the castle. The film feels quite episodic, with Sophie being introduced to the various lives that Howl's family leads. There's quite a lot of smaller moments, like house moving, cooking, etc. However, these small moments are indicative of what I believe is so special about the film. What I remember wasn't just the air battle to escape Sulliman or the dream sequence with Howl and Sophie. What I remembered most were the smallest moments that I had mentioned before. While not exciting, the cleaning and the cooking were fun, and they brought a smile to my face. I remembered the moments at the beginning where Sophie is just making hats. It really is reflective of the film's general theme of life. Miyazaki stated that his goal with this film is to convey the idea that "life is worth living." I think he nailed it. 

   Life itself is often challenging. No matter how much we want to believe that our lives are the hardest, it's impossible to deny that there are those who experience rainier days than you do. There are moments when the world seems ugly, and when life seems to absolutely hate you. These bits are reflected in the curses, the war, and the perceived nastiness of certain characters. The film also shows humanity at its best, and the world as something more beautiful than initially thought to be. One of the reasons the protagonists win is because of love and empathy, because they care about one another. It's a generally accepted idea that a cliche of film is that "love wins out in the end," but here, it truly does make sense. The backdrop portrait of this film reflects life, the best and the worst of it, but if you have loved ones and are compassionate towards others, you'll make it through life, and then some.

   I actually find a lot of similarity between the protagonists of Beauty and the Beast and Howl's Moving Castle. Belle's empathy allows her to see the Beast for something deeper than his intimidating exterior. Sophie, when she is initially turned into an old lady chooses to hide herself in fear of her appearance, but slowly, the appearance of Sophie becomes less and less important, as Sophie's love and empathy comes to the forefront of the film, similar to Belle. Beast and Howl live in Castles, and both are running away from their perceived goals. For Howl, that's attending his war duties, and for Beast, that's finding someone to love and grow attached to. Something interesting too was that Madame Sulliman is happy that Howl found "his true love," implying that Howl was possibly a loner in need of love, similar to the Beast. It's kind of a stretch, I know, but there's a similar feel between Howl and Beast, even though their personalities vary drastically. In a weird way, Howl is sort of like Miyazaki's Beauty and the Beast, due to its shared theme of empathy, love, and the similarity of the protagonists.

     Why is Howl's Moving Castle such a special film to me though? It's special because of what it means for the future. Films are an art form, but they can as easily influence one, or have a profound effect on one's life. As a person who is soon to become a young adult, as well as a person who has rarely seen the world, I am unsure of the outside world and what it holds. I think my friend said it best when she stated that we're from such a small community, and we truly do live in a bubble, so it'll be hard to adjust to the expansive and vast outside world. Will we really be able to navigate the unknown, especially when we can't even navigate anywhere (Well, at least she apparently can't)? One of our few links to the outside world is the currently media outlets and news broadcasting stations. With the current pandemic, and the protests and riots coming out, the outside world looks scarier and scarier by the moment. Am I myself really ready? 

 But then Howl's Moving Castle entered, telling me of the world, and its beauty, how it's a journey that we all experience. There are plenty of uninteresting moments, but those can be very fun as well. I ragged on the ending quite a bit before this, but it still is profound. The song that bookends the film is rightfully titled "Promise of the World." The world promises us so much, and though we may see worse days, we shouldn't be afraid to live life to its fullest. While war exists, and bad things are inevitable, there are so many stunning sights to see, so many amazing people to meet, and so much love to bring to the world.