I saw this on Douban. I like Howl’s Moving Castle very much. I think this writer’s writing is very profound and you can refer to it.

1. Story connotation

Let’s first analyze the basic connotation of the story. This film uses a lot of metaphorical symbols, one of the important metaphoric symbols is the moving castle. What does moving castle mean?

We know that 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. At the beginning of the film, a castle is slowly walking on the plain. The metal castle supported by four claws looks like a huge colorful heart, and the chimneys and roofs are as dense as a cardiovascular system. The castle stopped in front of Sophie, making a high-decibel friction sound. The castle trembled violently, which was Hall's heart trembling - he finally waited for his sweetheart.

The Moving Castle is a magical clone created by the fire demon Calcifer. The rooms inside are actually Hall's home in Porthaven Port. Sophie had just entered the castle and saw a square door knob on the lintel. There were four colors on the four sides of the door knob. Blue was facing up, and outside the door was Porthaven Port; red was facing up, and outside the door was the palace. Green. Facing up, outside the door is the road to the Moving Castle. Facing black, outside the door is a battlefield filled with smoke. Later, Hall moved his family to Qiping Town, changed one exit into his new home in Qiping Town, and changed the other exit into his secret garden. That is to say, in Hall's house, as long as the door knob is turned, any four spaces can be outside the door. This is like a person sitting at home, imagining that he can enter various imaginary and real spaces at any time, and experience various events: being born in his hometown, hanging out in the vanity fair, resisting evil forces in the dark, and building a new life with his lover. Nest, stop in the pure and beautiful spiritual garden, and imagine having a powerful fortress to compete with the world... This postmodern collage method is similar to "Westward Journey".

The two protagonists of this film have full human elements, far exceeding any characters in previous cartoons. Sophie is a quiet and kind-hearted little girl. She falls in love with Hall at first sight, but she does not think she is beautiful and does not dare to expect the charming Hall to love her. She was cursed by the Witch of the Wild and turned into an old woman. After that, she came to Howl's moving castle to clean the room for Howl. She thought that as long as she was an old woman, she would not be embarrassed to do anything for Hall, so she would rather be an old woman. This is her inner knot. Her old state is actually a reflection of her inner depression and low self-esteem. The male protagonist Hall is a powerful magician. He has a kind character, handsome appearance, loves to dress up, and is a bit timid. But when his lover is present, he will be extremely brave. Hall was unwilling to serve the warlike palace, avoided the king's call, and often secretly sabotaged the war. Therefore, he was a lonely anti-war person. This halo was specially added by Hayao Miyazaki and was not included in the original work.

In the original work, Hal was just a magician who was paid by the king to deal with the Witch of the Wild. There were no war scenes at all in the original work. Hayao Miyazaki deliberately developed an anti-war theme and rewrote Hall's teacher, Mrs. Saliman, into a bellicose and authoritarian villain, making the film almost an anti-war movie. Considering that Miyazaki himself has always been anti-war, it seems that Hal is Miyazaki's spokesperson.

Miyazaki Hayao claimed: "This is a cartoon I tried to create for the elderly." It would be better to say, "This is a cartoon I tried to create for myself, a man in his sixties." A cartoon created by an old man. "I believe that this is a spiritual poem that Miyazaki has been brewing for a long time, and it has been flowing in Miyazaki's heart for a long time.

2. Hall

Who is Hall? He is the most beautiful character in Hayao Miyazaki's works. He is an idealist who is not tolerated by the world.

The first time Hall appeared was on a secluded street. Sophie met two soldiers who were teasing her on the street. Hall suddenly appeared and rescued her with a few clicks of a finger. . The Witch of the Wild's men chased them, and Hall pulled Sophie into the air. The two of them walked slowly forward in the air to the beat of dance music, trampling the bustling scene of the world under their feet. Sophie followed Hall to the balcony as if in a dream. With a wave of his hand, Hall flew down and disappeared. It was a fantastic coming out. Hall has blond hair, blue eyes, soft eyebrows, blurry eyes, and gentle manners. He is a hero who saves the beauty, gentle and kind, comes and goes like the wind, is mysterious and romantic, and satisfies all the girls' fantasies about Prince Charming.

The second time Hall appears is after Sophie becomes an old woman. At that time, Sophie was cooking on the fire. Hall came in and saw a stranger coming to the house. He asked, "Excuse me, who are you?" Sophie smiled and said, "I am Granny Sophie, the new cleaner of the castle." Wife." Hall didn't ask any more questions and grabbed the spatula from Sophie's hand. "Please bring two slices of bacon and six eggs." Sophie handed the eggs and bacon to Hall, and Hall cooked them calmly. For rice, crack the eggs one by one into the pan and throw the eggshells into the stove. The oil pan sizzled and the flames rose merrily as Hall cooked a sumptuous breakfast.

Later, the two of them sat down to eat together with their young apprentice Maluk, just like a family. To my surprise, Hall's second appearance involves him doing housework, and he can cook like most single men! As a great magician, Hall can go out of the hall and into the kitchen. He is undoubtedly a good man.

Hall also has another advantage: he speaks politely. He often uses polite words such as "please" and "please" when he speaks, and his behavior is gentle and polite. In the palace, facing the powerful enemy Mrs. Saliman, Hall knew that there would be a fierce battle next, but he still bent down to salute Mrs. Saliman and said: "The teacher is in good spirit, which is pleasing. I came as promised. “Calm and unhurried demeanor.

With one exception. One day, Sophie accidentally moved the bathroom shelf, disrupting the magic. Hall's hair would never return to its beautiful blonde color. Wearing a bath towel, he stumbled downstairs and lost his temper to Sophie: "Sophie! Did you move the bathroom shelf? Look, your hair has turned into this weird color!" He cried desperately, He slumped down on the chair and said, "It's hopeless. It's such a disgrace... If it's not beautiful, what's the point of living..." He fell on the stove like a dead man, with green slime gurgling from his body. The room was filled with gloom and darkness. The elves danced one after another, the beams twisted and trembled, and green slime flowed all over the floor. Sophie had to carry Hall upstairs. The scene is slightly comedic and reveals Hall's childish side.

Hall is lazy and depressed every day and does not care about hygiene. When Sophie first entered the castle, she saw that the castle was in a mess, with dust on the beams and spiders and crawlers everywhere. We know that the castle is Hall's mental illusion. The castle is dirty and messy, which shows that Hall's will is very depressed. However, although Hall was depressed, he still insisted on going to the battlefield to fight every day. He was a staunch anti-war person who was determined to prevent the war from destroying the town.

At the beginning of the film, in Sophie's hat shop, the girls talked about Hall: "I heard that the girl named Martha in Nanmachi had her heart taken away by Hal. It's so scary!" Legend! Zhong Huoer is a devil, and everyone talks about it with disgrace. This is like some knights in Jin Yong's works, such as Xiao Feng, Golden Snake Langjun, and Huang Yaoshi. Although they are all upright characters, they are regarded as big devils by "well-known and decent people". In the eyes of the world, people who are independent are eccentric, and people who are independent and extremely capable are almost undoubtedly disaster stars. Even Mrs. Saliman, the royal magician in the palace, thinks Hal is very dangerous. But as someone who has been with Hall day and night, Sophie is convinced that Hall is not a bad person, but why does everyone say that Hall is so scary?

At the end of the film, the suspense is finally revealed. The castle collapsed and Sophie fell to the bottom. In her despair, she found that the ring given to her by Hal was moving on her hand. The light of the ring pointed at the door of the castle. She opened the door of the castle, walked through a long tunnel, and walked into a room. There was a table in the room covered with paper written in Hall's handwriting. She walked out of the house and found that Hal's secret garden was outside. Meteors streaked across the sky, hitting the grass and falling into the water, making a tinkling sound. A thin little boy came from a distance, that was Hall in his childhood. Sophie was stunned. The little boy stood in the middle of the grass. A meteor fell from the sky and fell into his hand, creating dazzling sparks. The little boy held the meteor with a smile and muttered something, as if he was making a wish. Then he raised his head and swallowed the meteor. Sophie saw all this from a distance and could hardly believe it - that was the so-called contract, the so-called transaction. It was actually just a wish from a child! The boy frowned and bent down, holding his chest, and then he held out a burning heart. The flames were burning brightly, and the boy stood quietly in the middle of the lawn, holding the burning heart in his hands. This is the most classic scene in the entire film. In an instant, Sophie understood everything.

We should remember that there is a hero Danko in Gorky's works. In order to lead his people out of the dark forest, Danko took out his burning heart and illuminated the way out for his people. Danko is a hero with a strong sense of salvation. He is the most famous character in Gorky's works. As long as you mention holding the burning heart in your hands, I believe that everyone who knows Danke will immediately think of Danke. 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 was unwilling to be loyal to the kingdom and to persecute the people in war. He wanted 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 the 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 that you were waiting for me here, but I didn'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. Hall retracted the heart 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 entered the school. That child is smart and talented. , I was secretly happy to finally find someone who could inherit my position. I didn't expect that child's heart to be 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 soul are devoured. Now our kingdom can no longer tolerate these heretical magicians. If Hall is willing to come here to serve the kingdom, he must cut off all ties with the devil. If not, I will. Destroy his magic, just like that woman."

The beginning of this statement is a bit mysterious. Mrs. Saliman insisted that Hall's heart was taken away by the devil. Hall has no heart, but has great 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 goods to the emperor's house." If a magician is unwilling to be dominated by the ruler, he is a dangerous person. She threatened that if Hall did not report to the palace again, she would destroy Hall's magic, just like the magic of the Witch of the Wild. These words are a bit murderous.

Although Sophie did not yet understand what was going on between Hall and the fire demon Calcifer, out of her understanding and love for Hall, she stood up angrily and refuted:

< p>"I finally understand why Hall doesn't want to come here. This is a strange place. When you invite people over, you have to first climb a flight of stairs and then take them to a strange room. Isn't this bullying? You say Hall's heart was devoured. He was indeed a willful and timid person, and he didn't know what was going on in his head, but at least he was straightforward and frank. He wanted to live his own life. Hall would not come here, nor would he. If he can become the devil, he will definitely find a way to solve the problem with the devil. I believe he will!"

It is very common in history to invite people over but let them climb up a flight of stairs first. . For example, in old China, when ministers wanted to see the emperor, they had to climb a flight of stairs and kneel down three times and nine times to bow down. This is actually a common phenomenon in hierarchical societies where people oppress others. But all this seems extremely unreasonable to Sophie. She understood Hall's intentions. He didn't want to blend into a hierarchical society, didn't want to be suppressed, and didn't want to suppress others. He was unwilling to come to the palace because he wanted to safeguard freedom and dignity, but the autocratic ruler considered him "very dangerous." Sophie couldn't help but defend Hall loudly: "At least he is straightforward and honest, and he wants to live his own life." These words were very convincing.

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 view of authoritarians, a capable person who is unwilling to integrate into society, wanders around all day, and often does things that violate policies is like giving his heart to the devil, which is very scary. In the view of liberals, they have the right to control their own lives, and they are fighting for moral ideals.

In order to realize their moral ideals, they would rather pay the price, even if they shed blood and sacrifice, than they can never serve as a humble member of a hierarchical society.

Speaking of which, we need to analyze the fire demon Calcifer in detail. What is the metaphor of the fire demon Calcifer? We know that his predecessor was a dying meteor, and meteors are the objects of wishes in the eyes of ordinary people. Hall gave his heart to the meteor, which is equivalent to entrusting his heart to his 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 Mrs. Saliman's confession in the film, "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 the heart, the first thing he did was to fight for free. 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 his own castle to realize his desire for freedom and peace. Hall's dream is freedom and peace.

In the film, Calcifer is called a "demon". Not only Mrs. Saliman calls him so, but also Sophie calls him so. Even Calcifer calls 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." If you think about it carefully, it makes sense. Idealism is a double-edged sword. If a child stubbornly pursues his dream with a willful heart, if he refuses to make any compromise with reality, he will sooner or later become a madman. The so-called growth is the process of constant compromise with reality; the so-called maturity is the transformation from idealism to empiricism. There is no absolute freedom in the world, just as there is no permanent tyranny in the world. If a person is immersed in a state of freedom for too long, he will eventually become depressed and decadent, or act recklessly, and his body and mind will be swallowed up. Hayao Miyazaki is unique in this regard. It seems that he is not just an animator who stays in the studio and daydreams all day long, but he is also a thinker.

Although Hayao Miyazaki is firmly anti-war, he does not seem keen on being a hero. There is a scene in the second half of the film where Hall and Sophie's new home is under fire. Hall is determined to defend his home. He says to Sophie: "Sophie, you stay here, Calcifer will protect you, and I will protect you outside." "Sophie hurriedly stepped forward to stop, "Wait! Hall, you can't go, stay here!" Hall said sadly: "The next air attack is coming, and Calcifer can't stop it." Fei suggested, "Run away, don't fight them!" Hall replied calmly and firmly: "Why? I have escaped enough over the years, and finally there is someone around me who must protect me, and that is you." After that, , he flew out and plunged into the smoke-filled battlefield without hesitation.

A responsible man’s courage doubled after meeting his lover, and he bravely shouldered the burden of protecting his family in a war-torn moment. This is really touching. But is fighting alone the right way to protect your loved ones? How could one man's strength stop a huge army? In the final analysis, Hall is a stubborn idealist who believes that a good man should die on the battlefield and should not run away from the battlefield. But Sophie didn't think so. When Sophie saw Hall being attacked in the air and wailing loudly in pain, she was shocked and immediately asked Calcifer to move and recruit Hall back. She said:

"As long as we stay here, I'm afraid Hall won't be able to come back. It's better to be a coward."

What Sophie means is that she doesn't want to For Hall to be a hero, she just wants everyone to be safe, so they might as well run away and get to a safe place. She didn't want Hall to stalk the enemy, she would rather Hall be a coward. Sophie’s words touched my heart deeply. People with a temper like Hall's are mostly literati and artists in life. How can a scholar turn the tide of the war? Once the killing machine is activated, it will either kill or be killed. How much is the self-sacrifice of a small person worth? The wise thing to do is to run away like Sophie. I strongly agree with Sophie's point of view, although I prefer Hall.

The above two dialogues are the essence of the film’s ideas. These two scenes show that Hayao Miyazaki has a very deep understanding of idealism.

4. Situation

As the most complex character in Hayao Miyazaki's works, Hall has many appearances. When he first appeared, Hall wore a colorful long coat, long emerald earrings, blond hair, and blurry blue eyes, like a dreamy prince in a fairy tale. Later the coat changed to a lighter color and the hairstyle became straight, still very beautiful. After Hall's hair turned back to black, his image became simpler. He even stopped wearing a beautiful long coat and only wore a white shirt, which was a bit homely. Don't underestimate this change, it means that Hall gradually got rid of his narcissistic weakness and matured under the influence of Sophie.

Many scenes in the film left a deep impression on people. In one scene, Hall is sleeping quietly on the bed, wearing a white shirt, his eyes closed, and the bed is surrounded by all kinds of strange toys, the colors are golden and dreamy. This scene is like a pure prince in white sleeping in the bright dream of a child, which is reminiscent of Klimt's oil paintings.

Another situation was when Hall lost his temper and summoned the dark elf. His body was pale and he fell on the stove, like a seriously ill child, with melancholy green mucus flowing all over the floor. There were shadows all around, the light dimmed, and the beams and furniture in the house were twisted and uneasy. The picture is very tense, the colors are rich and gloomy, and the style is somewhat similar to Munch's print "Uneasy".

Here I want to talk about the production of this film.

This film has made a leap forward in production. Although the characters are still drawn by hand, some of the scenery, props and lighting used computer three-dimensional technology for the first time. Since the characters are still drawn by hand, the overall light and simple style of the film is continued, but the pictures often have the charm of oil paintings or prints. This is an amazing breakthrough. In the film, the materials such as wood, wooden doors, wooden columns, stone bricks, walls, toys, etc. are delicate, realistic and shiny; the light also penetrates naturally like real light, and even the dust in the light is clearly visible. Such a picture cannot help but remind people of the works of the Venetian School or the Dutch School. The effect is stunning.

In this extremely ambitious cartoon, Hayao Miyazaki gave up the large-scale war scenes that he is best at. Audiences who are familiar with Hayao Miyazaki should remember that Hayao Miyazaki is very good at handling large-scale aerial battle scenes, but there is no aerial battle scene worthy of praise at all in this film. On the contrary, Hall transformed into a big gray bird, flying angrily in the smoke-filled night sky, which left a deep impression on people.

The sound of cannons rumbled in the night sky, the airships were blown to pieces, and the sky turned into a sea of ??fire. Hall spread his wings and flew in. His blond hair was full of anger, his eyes were wide open, and his huge wings were spread out, as powerful as a giant eagle; he flew across the smoke-filled night sky, like a petrel flying across a dark cloud-covered sea, sharp and swift.

Hall’s flying shape, which resembles a giant eagle in the close view and a petrel in the distant view, is probably not accidental. Eagles and petrels are both famous birds in Gorky's works. "Let the storm come harder!" We all remember this famous saying. "Song of the Petrel" and "Song of the Eagle" are Gorky's most famous prose works, and were once praised as masterpieces of "proletarian revolutionary romanticism". Considering that the scene of Hall holding the fire in his hand is very similar to Gorky's hero Danko, I have reason to speculate that Hayao Miyazaki was inspired by Gorky when he conceived. Obviously, the character Hall combines the characteristics of Danko, Giant Eagle, and Petrel. However, Hayao Miyazaki did not intend to engage in "romantic" sensationalism. While portraying the anti-war hero Hall, he also reflected on idealism. He not only highlighted Hall's fighting spirit, but also emphasized his independent, free spirit and love. Ideals and pastoral ideals, which in the eyes of the proletarian revolutionaries fifty years ago were "decadent petty bourgeois sentiments" and should be criticized. Hayao Miyazaki's style is completely different from Gorky's. What he wants is the beauty of the situation. He wants to elevate the strong salvation feelings into a sad and beautiful lyrical poetry. This is his artistic concept.

There are several scenes with a strange atmosphere and a mysterious beauty. One scene was when Hall returned from the battlefield, slumped down, fell on a chair, and talked to the fire demon Calcifer. The light in the room was dim, and Hall was exhausted. He said sadly: "This war is very tragic. From the sea in the south to the border in the north, it is a sea of ??fire." Calcifer shouted: "I hate the fire of gunpowder the most. ! There is no word polite in the dictionary of those guys!" In fact, Calcifer is the fire in Hall's heart. When Hall talks to the stove, he is actually talking to his own soul. In the dark room, the lonely and exhausted Hall expressed his thoughts to the flames. This scene left a deep impression on people.

An even more peculiar scene is a dream. Hall came back from the battlefield for the second time. Sophie heard the sound and woke up from her dream. At this time she changed back to her girlish appearance. In fact, she was dreaming, and people are most relaxed in their sleep, so in her sleep, Sophie forgot her inferiority complex and became a girl again. She was shocked and hurt when she saw the feathers on the ground stained with blood. She went upstairs to Hall's room holding a candle. She opened the door and saw two passages in the room filled with all kinds of colorful toys, leading to an unknown distance. Walking through a toy aisle, she saw a big bird trembling on the ground at the end, and exclaimed: "Hall, is it Hall? Are you sad? Are you injured?" The big bird trembled on the ground and said in a low voice: "Don't Come here -" Sophie said: "It doesn't matter, let me help you, let me help you undo the curse on you, okay?" The big bird suddenly raised its head, showing a skull face, and said: "You can't even do it on yourself. I can't break the curse, can you help me?" Sophie shouted: "That's different, because I love you!" The skeleton sighed: "It's too late." Then he fluttered his wings and left. Feathers flew down one after another, and the situation was desolate. Sophie suddenly grew old and stood blankly. The seemingly powerful magician Hall is actually just a child hiding among toys and stubbornly dreaming of being a hero. He has been lonely for many years, suffering from pain, and is autistic and timid. Although Sophie had long sensed Hall's loneliness and pain, she could not get rid of her inferiority complex and did not dare to get close to her sweetheart. She felt anxious and didn't know what to do. 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 the reason. 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.

In the past half century, several generations of avant-garde filmmakers have deliberately pursued formal beauty, including Tarkovsky, Bergman, Fellini, Antonioni, Angelopus Key and other film masters, many of their works have beautiful images, slow pace, obscure plots, and a very limited audience. In fact, movies that are not necessarily profound must be obscure. For example, "Howl's Moving Castle" is very interesting, and its ideological and aesthetic level is no less than any poetic movie. Therefore, formal aesthetics is not the only way to the palace of art. Popular themes and simple plots coupled with reasonable art can still reach the high realm of art. The academic school is obsessed with formal aesthetics and blindly advocates pure image theory, which is purely a manifestation of arrogance and isolation from the audience.

So, what’s the secret to success?

The first is to create characters. Hall and Sophie have rich character traits, whereas in previous poetic films, such as "Death in Venice", "Mirror", etc., the characters are just props and symbols in beautiful long shots. Such films are usually only lyrical and cannot carry profound thoughts. Take Hayao Miyazaki's past works, such as "Castle in the Sky". The two protagonists are simply cute and their characters are too thin to contain profound humanistic connotations. Therefore, "Castle in the Sky" is just a critical work, far less rich and profound than "Howl's Moving Castle".

Secondly, modern concepts should be injected into the film instead of advocating the struggle concepts or the spirit of sacrifice of the old era. In the last century, forty years of war and fifty years of cold war caused great pain to the world. Artists rose up to create and tried to seek salvation for the world with religious piety. Nowadays, people's lives are becoming increasingly stable, and the trend has changed. Freedom, independence, equality, and peace have gradually become the mainstream concepts of modern people. Each era has its own art. Anyone who goes back and promotes old ideas is just speculating on others' wisdom, and is being pedantic and conservative.

The most important thing is that we must understand that although times are changing, some things will not change. For example, Tang poetry and Song lyrics will never go out of style. Aesthetic lyricism is an immortal trend. The yearning for love and beauty is always rooted in everyone's heart. Hayao Miyazaki painstakingly created the beautiful Hall and carefully arranged the situation in order to implement his aesthetic concepts. He believes that cartoons can also realize artistic ideals, and this is indeed the case. Animation is a combination of painting art and film art. Animation can achieve visual aesthetics more conveniently than live-action movies. In a beautiful situation, the music is melancholy and low, and the plot quietly expresses the heart of an idealist who is not tolerated by the world. When the young heart finally reveals its simple and beautiful beliefs, it is the most touching moment. That kind of moving beauty is completely different from the tragic beauty that reflects the strong inner worries of adults. After watching Hayao Miyazaki's animations, we realize that in addition to tragic beauty, there is also pure beauty in the world.

We might as well compare Hayao Miyazaki with his peers. The vast majority of Hollywood cartoons are just for entertainment, and the images are exaggerated and blurred, which is not very interesting. Even Hayao Miyazaki's colleague Isao Takahata, whose masterpiece "Goodbye, Firefly" is tragic and painful, has nothing to do with pure poetry. However, in Hayao Miyazaki's films, poetic, childlike and innocent good wishes run through almost every work, including "Porco Rosso" with a middle-aged protagonist. It can be said that Hayao Miyazaki has established his own aesthetic system and he is a true master. Some people once said that Hayao Miyazaki is "Jin Yong of Japan" and "Shakespeare of animation". Now it seems that these titles are not appropriate. Hayao Miyazaki is Hayao Miyazaki. He is an epoch-making figure who opened up a new world in the field of art. I sincerely look forward to his next work continuing to surprise and move us.