[MOVIE REVIEW #6] Never seen this movie before? but pretty sure you have ever heard of the OST! “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2004)

Originally Posted 2019. 02. 10.

[Photo from: wallpaperaccess]

Howl’s Moving Castle, ハウルの動く城 in Japanese, is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

About the Movie!

The story is set in a fictional western kingdom during the early 20th century. The film tells the story of a young, content milliner named Sophie, who is turned into an old woman by a curse of the Witch of the Waste. Sophie leaves home and sets on an adventure to break the curse. On her way, she meets a living scarecrow and names it “Turnip Head”. He leads Sophie to Howl’s moving castle. Sophie enters the castle without invitation and meets Markl, Howl’s young apprentice, and Calcifer, a fire demon and also the source of the castle’s magic. When Howl appears, she introduces herself as a cleaning lady.

Meanwhile, Sophie’s country is in a war with a neighboring kingdom, who is searching for their missing prince. The King summons Howl to fight in the war with his magic, but Howl is too much of a coward to fight. 

The rest of the story is Howl deciding to fight in the war by himself to protect the woman he loves, which is Sophie. The movie ends as Sophie and Howl fly into the sky on the magical castle.

[Photo from: moviemania]

My thoughts!

When I was 5 years old, me and my family moved to Fukuoka, Japan and lived there for the next 3 years. Since a young age, I was influenced by various Japanese cultures. One of them were animation films from Studio Ghibli. I’ve watched many Studio Ghibli films, such as Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Castle in the Sky, and so on. I remembered most of the films as brief moments in my memory. After I came back to Japan 3 years ago, I have been rewatching the films one by one. Among the films, Howl’s Moving Castle was one of my favorites. I loved the castle’s steampunk vibe, and the fictional western war periods that the film was themed. Howl’s Moving Castle is one of the few movies that I have a DVD. Everytime I watch the scene when Sophie visits a childhood memory of Howl I am astonished of how truly beautiful this movie really is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howl%27s_Moving_Castle_(film)

[Photo from: moviemezzanine]