Howl’s Moving Castle is one of many high-quality Studio Ghibli movies; I believe they transcend all linguistic and cultural boundaries and just universally capture the beauty of human creativity. I have a soft spot for them, and they all have a peacefullness and charm which I seldom see in other films.
( ◡‿◡ )♡ Dear readers, be forewarned: spoilers ahead!!!
While I was watching the movie, I couldn’t help but form a ‘directional statement’ in my mind; HMC shows how love can be a medium for self-discovery, and shows this through multiple relationship developments as the story progresses. With Sophie as our ever-tenacious, strong female-lead, her relationships with Markl, Turnip-Head, Calcifer, and—last but not least—Howl.
Admittedly, not all of my points are very deep or solid, but this is more of a thought dump of everything I noticed (´◡`) I think it might be because as a children’s or family movie, some points have to be a bit obvious to drive home the message.
Markl
Throughout the movie, Markl puts on a disguise when he deals with strangers and customers. His first interaction with Sophie is also quite prickly, as he is annoyed she found her way into the castle. But he slowly warms up to Sophie as they start to take care of the castle together. We don’t know much of Markl’s background, so we don’t really know why he came to be an apprentice under Howl, just that he’s currently trying to improve his magic. During the climax of the movie, he hugs Sophie tightly, saying “I love you Sophie, Please don’t go!” While he says this, his disguise disappears. I interpreted this as because he is comfortable around Sophie enough to show his true self and feelings. Of course, he is usually in his true form around Sophie anyways, but I think this is symbolic regardless (´◡`)
Turnip-Head
Our gentlemanly turnip-headed-scarecrow doesn’t have a huge amount of interactions with Sophie, but they’re all distinct in strengthening their relationship. He finds his true self quite literally, after he turns back into his human, princely form at the end of the movie. We’re first introduced to him as Sophie pulls him upright from bushes on her way to find Howl. He can’t talk, and his ever present grin is just the smallest amount of unsettling, but we quickly become endeared to him as he brings Sophie a cane for her travels. Through the movie, he continues to help Sophie, and becomes part of the HMC family. You could say that on a very basic level, his love for Sophie helped him find himself again (after her ‘true love’s kiss, he transforms). I like to imagine that past that surface level analysis, our turnip-headed prince found himself through his actions to help the group throughout the film.
(Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how he understands and accepts Sophie’s affections lie elsewhere? And leaves back for his kingdom gracefully? More people should learn from him (´◡`) )
Calcifer
With Calcifer and Sophie, I honestly don’t have many points leading back to my directional statement, but their relationship is so funny and wholesome that I just had to include them. Although we are given hints throughout the movie, we find out Calcifer is actually Howl’s heart near the end. But we still see the growing attachement he has towards Sophie—she’s the only other person other than Howl that he listens to. This can be chalked up to him literally just being a part of Howl, but its sweet regardless when Sophie kisses him and he returns back to his true form as a fallen star. So… another very physical show of self discovery (´◡`)
Howl
Howl’s changes are also physical, in addition to Sophie’s interactions with Calcifer when you consider him a part of Howl. As Howl and Sophie get to know and care for eachother, his ‘mysterious’, ‘otherworldly’ mask fades away into something much more human. When Sophie cleans and organizes the castle bathroom, Howl accidentally uses the wrong hair product; this eventually turns his hair black. When I watched the movie, I assumed that this could be a nod back to Howl’s natural hair colour—a sign that he was finally revealing his true self.
What I found harder to explain to myself was Howl’s transformation into his monstrous, bird-like form. Whenever he transforms, he loses a bit more of his humanity, and it become harder for him to turn back. Is this something that Howl accepts as part of himself to help in the war? Does it reflect the negative results he internalizes when offering his generosity to the world? His true self—his kindness and will to protect the places and people that he loves—manifests as an eerily beautiful transfiguration.
Maybe it brings out a strong message that everything about our true selves isn’t always good…and that’s okay (´◡`)
Bonus: Sophie
I think Sophie is one of the strongest, most self-assured female leads I have ever seen in a movie or a book. I love how she takes everything in stride and is very logical about the curse set on her. Although it isn’t explicit, I think Sophie and her love for others + herself transforms her back to her original appearance by the end of the movie. Her love for Howl is the major reason the movie points to, but I like to think that her personal journey through this movie also played a part in it.
And that concludes my thought dump about HMC. If you read until the end... thanks! (´◡`)
Momo's Musings 