Everything is so gentle. Maybe, even the moment the wind blew over,

it was a gentle caress.

Howl's Moving Castle is a castle that can run, like a naughty child,

stumbling around every wonderful place in this world.

For a while he took us to the lake kissed by the sun to enjoy the tranquility;

For a while he took us to the top of the mountain embraced by the clouds to appreciate the magnificence;

Take us to a lively town market later to experience a plain and comfortable life.

In that world, there were no evil people. In the end, the Witch of the Wasteland was just a kind old lady warming herself by the fire.

Mrs. Panstead was also just a caring and dedicated person to Hal. A magician who only serves the interests of the country.

In that world, everyone was a cute child.

After all, Howl is just a handsome little boy who likes to be cool. After Sophie messed up the hair dye in his bathroom

He lost his temper and summoned the dark elf... ·

The last time I was summoned was after I was dumped by a girl.

Although Sophie has changed into a 90-year-old lady on the outside, she is still just an innocent and kind-hearted little girl on the inside.

When Hal took her to the private garden, her old face instantly reflected the excitement of her teenage years.

Not to mention the little fire demon Kalucifa who boils Hal's bath water and cooks rice, the little boy Maluk who likes to pretend to be an old man

and Yibengyibeng often pinch him. Somewhere, the Scarecrow Prince is having trouble.

I like such a warm and exciting adventure story.

I like those lovely people, such a happy world,

I like everything that is gentle.

When we look at the world ignorantly but fearlessly, our eyes are shining, like the endless water. Innocence is lost in the lost way of growing up, lost in the agreement to exchange POWER with the devil, lost in the noisy prosperity and behind the mask of indifference.

Howl's Moving Castle is a city that has not yet flown into the sky, and Howl is our ghost prince, the Amber River that has lost its name. Our Sophie has a pair of eyes that are always innocent, no matter what color her hair is or what her name is.

Innocence and loss, eternal themes, also eternally awaken my dreams. The so-called magic is not just weaving a dream so that you can walk into it and make it seem real.

This time the magician made a running castle. When he opened the door, he saw gunpowder smoke, and when he opened the door again, he saw childhood. The owner of the castle is an angel with black wings, who willfully protects a girl. This girl, when she faces herself bravely, is a beautiful girl, but when she retreats, she turns into a dying old woman.

Then what is love actually? It is him falling from the sky, holding your hand and flying. Love is an awakening for an ignorant boy. I have found what I want to do in this life, which is to protect her. Love is a willful black-winged angel rescued by pure magic, but how long do I have to wait? When you come, will my eyes still shine, do I still have that pure magic? If it's not a coincidence, it's just an old woman slumped in the middle of the chair, thinking about the dreams of her youth.

1. Story connotation

This film uses a large number of metaphorical symbols, one of the important metaphorical symbols is the moving castle. What does moving castle mean?

In Western literary and artistic works, the castle usually refers to an autistic mind. For example, Edward Scissorhands or the vampire Duke Dracula, they stay alone in the castle all year round, looking forward to being rescued. In those films, the castle is a symbol of the protagonist's autistic mind. So, what does a moving castle mean? My understanding is that Moving Castle refers to Howl's wandering heart. The Moving Castle was moved by the fire demon Calcifer, and Calcifer's mana came from Hall's heart, so the Moving Castle was actually an illusion of Hall's mind.

Like Danko, the little boy Hall also holds his heart in his hands, but not only to save the world, but also to save himself. He does not want to be loyal to the kingdom and does not want to persecute the people in war. He wants to strive for a free and peaceful environment. So he entrusted his heart to Meteor, made Meteor a fire demon, and relied on the power of the fire demon to create a powerful moving castle. After that, he hid in the castle all day long, avoiding the king's call and going out at any time to prevent the spread of war. In fact, Hall's wish is just that of an ordinary child, but even this simple wish turns out to be very dangerous in the adult world accustomed to servility and authoritarianism. When Hall dug out his young heart, Sophie, watching from a distance, understood everything. The ground suddenly cracked, and the powerful time and space wanted to suck Sophie back. Sophie couldn't help shouting: "Hall, Calcifer, I am Sophie, wait for me! I will definitely find you! Wait for me in the future - —" She knew that he would face a long-term loneliness, and she wanted to give him a love agreement. Hall turned around in surprise and saw a girl sinking into the ground and disappearing. On the day he gave his heart to the fire demon, he felt the call of love, so he kept waiting for Sophie, waiting for his sweetheart. Until one day, he found a Sophie mother-in-law who called herself a cleaning lady coming to the castle. He knew that she was his lover. The first thing he did was grab her spatula and make her a hearty breakfast.

In a garden filled with meteors, the little boy Hall walked away with his burning heart in his hands. This scene is so touching and so sad. Sophie walked back in the time tunnel, crying as she walked. It was just a child's simple wish, but it became the full price of being a human being. Since then, Hall has been regarded as a thorn in the eyes of the world. He exiled himself and drove the castle across countless mountains and seas to find his lover. Now, his lover has finally arrived. Sophie walked out of the tunnel and saw Hall transformed into a big bird, waiting for her quietly in the valley. She stepped forward, brushed aside his disheveled feathers, kissed his blood-stained face, and said, "Hall, I'm sorry, are you there?" Waiting for me here, but I haven’t come until now.” This is the most touching confession. Only then did she realize that he had been waiting for her. He had suffered so much and fought alone for so long, but she had never been able to share it with him. She felt guilty.

Then, Sophie broke the contract between Hall and Calcifer and stuffed the heart back into Hall's atrium. Howl took the heart back, and Calcifer survived. They recreated a beautiful garden castle. What dominates this garden castle is no longer Hall's angry and rebellious heart, but the love between Hall and Sophie. Although this happy ending seems cliché, it makes sense. If you think about it carefully, maybe only love can save the idealist who is not tolerated by the world, and maybe only love can let the man who is immersed in the dream of a hero go home.

This is Hall's story. I like this story. There is a Hall in the heart of every idealist. Some people have found love, some people have not, and may never find it in their lifetime. Those who cannot get love are likely to become demons like the Witch of the Wilderness; or some people will fall to the ground and die like the hero Danko, quietly dying in the indifference of the world and unknown to anyone.

3. Dialogue

Sophie returned to Hall’s childhood and witnessed Hall catching meteors and taking out the heart. This scene was added by Hayao Miyazaki and was not included in the original work. . Most of the wonderful scenes in the film were written by Hayao Miyazaki. This is a wonderful script, with some deeply touching dialogue that is thought-provoking.

For example, in the palace, Mrs. Saliman said to Sophie:

"He (Hall) is my last disciple who started. That child is smart and talented. , I was secretly happy to finally find someone who could inherit my position. I didn't expect that the child's heart was taken away by the devil, and he left me and turned into a very dangerous person who only used magic for his own benefit. , he has no heart, but has too much power. If this continues, Hall will become like the Witch of the Wilderness. This Witch of the Wilderness was once a talented magician, but she made a deal with the devil, and in the long run, no matter what. Both body and mind are devoured.

Now our kingdom can no longer tolerate these heretical magicians outside. If Hall is willing to come here and serve the kingdom, he must cut off all contact with the devil. I will teach you how. If it doesn't come, I will nullify his magic, just like that woman. "

The beginning of these words is a bit mysterious. Mrs. Saliman insisted that Hall's heart was taken away by the devil. Hall has no heart, but possesses powerful power and is a very dangerous person. Mrs. Saliman stated her position. What she meant was that magicians should be loyal to the kingdom. As the saying goes, "learn martial arts and sell your goods to the emperor's family." If a magician does not want to be controlled by the ruler, then he is a dangerous person. Threatening that if Hall does not report to the palace, she will abolish Hall's magic power, just like the magic power of the wilderness witch. Although Sophie does not yet understand the relationship between Hall and the fire demon Calcifer. What was going on, but out of understanding and love for Hall, she stood up angrily and retorted:

"I finally know why Hall doesn't want to come here. This is a strange place. When you invite people over, you have to ask them to climb up a flight of stairs and then take you to a strange room. Isn't this bullying? You said that Hall's heart was devoured by others. He is indeed a willful and timid person. He doesn't know what is going on in his head, but at least he is straightforward and honest. He wants to live his own life. Hall will not come here, nor will he become the devil. He will definitely find a way to solve the problem with the devil himself. I believe he will! ”

It was very common in history to invite someone over but have them climb up a flight of stairs first. For example, in old China, when ministers wanted to see the emperor, they had to climb up a flight of stairs first and kneel three times and kowtow nine times. The ceremony of kneeling down. This is actually a common phenomenon for people in hierarchical society to oppress others. But all this seems extremely unreasonable to Sophie. She understands Hall's intention. He does not want to be integrated into the hierarchical society, nor does he want to be suppressed. Others. He was unwilling to come to the palace because he wanted to maintain freedom and dignity, but the autocratic ruler thought he was "very dangerous." Sophie couldn't help but defend Hall loudly: "At least he is straightforward and honest, and he has thought about his own. Life. "This is a resounding statement.

This wonderful debate reveals the root of the conflict between the pros and cons of the film, which is the irreconcilable contradiction between authoritarianism and liberalism. In the eyes of authoritarians, a Those who are capable do not want to integrate into society, wander around all day long, and often do things that violate policies. It is like giving their hearts to the devil, which is very scary. From the perspective of liberals, they have control over themselves. For the right to live, they are fighting for their moral ideals. In order to realize their moral ideals, they would rather pay the price, even if they shed blood, than become a humble member of a hierarchical society.

Speaking of this, we. Let’s analyze the fire demon Calcifer in detail. What is the metaphor of the fire demon Calcifer? We know that his predecessor is a dying meteor, and the meteor is the object of wishes in the eyes of ordinary people. Hall gave his heart to the meteor. It is equivalent to entrusting the heart to wishes. In other words, the fire demon Calcifer is actually the fire of dreams in Hall's heart.

So, what is Hall's dream according to the film? Explained, "The child's heart was taken away by the devil, and he became a person who only used magic for his own benefit. "That is to say, after Hall took out his heart, the first thing he did was to fight for freedom. He did not want to take orders from the palace or be manipulated by others. He left Mrs. Saliman, and he wanted to use the fire of dreams in his heart to Build your own castle to realize your wish for freedom and peace.

In the film, Calcifer is called "the devil", not only by Mrs. Saliman, but also by Sue. Fei called him this, and even Calcifer called himself: "I am a devil! "This is very interesting. Calcifer is a friend of Hall and Sophie. He is the fire of dreams in Hall's heart, but in the eyes of the world, he is a devil because he "will devour people's bodies and souls." Think about it carefully , which is not unreasonable. Idealism is a double-edged sword. If a child stubbornly pursues his dream with a willful heart, if he continues to refuse to make any compromises with reality, he will sooner or later become a madman.

This dream is full of gothic and confusing atmosphere, and the artistic conception is deeply sad and unforgettable.

5. Conclusion

There is something wrong with the ending of the film. Mrs. Saliman saw that Hall and others had turned the corner and immediately decided to cease the war. This is really inexplicable. Why did she decide to call a truce? The film does not explain why. Probably in order to ensure the box office, the producers imposed a bright tail. This is a flaw in the film.

However, the film as a whole still shines. This film embeds spiritual metaphors into a simple story frame like a fairy tale; it integrates modern concepts of love, freedom, and peace into a beautiful and lyrical poetic style, which is refreshing. This film has a modern aesthetic, a new century art, and is different from any previous film. I think this is a landmark work.