If you chance to view Howl’s Moving Castle before or after Christian Bale’s portrayal of Batman in Christopher Nolan’s films, you’ll notice a strong and bizarre link between the two films. The Academy Award-winning actor had tested the waters a year before the public was introduced to Bale’s trademark gruff accent in Batman Begins (2005), by utilising the tone in the internationally praised Japanese fantasy film, based largely on British novelist Diane Wynne Jones novel of the same name.
Howl’s Moving Castle is an elegantly drawn film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, a prolific animated director and storyteller who is also the co-founder of the legendary Studio Ghibli. Christian Bale portrays Howl, the main character, while Emily Mortimer plays Sophie, his love interest. Sophie, who is unclothed yet honest and intelligent, is one day transformed into a 90-year-old witch by a witch. Sophie is led to Howl’s Moving Castle by a scarecrow, who is looking for a safe place to stay.
The plot is as insanely entertaining as it sounds. Every door, both actual and metaphorical, leads to a new world brimming with possibilities. Despite its evident fairy-tale form, the film does not shy away from addressing real-world themes, particularly the destructive impacts of war. Miyazaki uses his protagonist Howl to show out the futility of waging a war with great care.
Howl is a conceited, showy, but ultimately caring wizard who is pulled to the great battle in order to help alleviate the crisis while dealing with his own personal problems. His heart is absent, he is afraid of losing his beautiful looks, and he is having ‘female problems.’ Howl’s magical personality is brilliantly juxtaposed with his human frailties. And the great Bale, who masterfully depicts the perpetual conflict of being a human, brings all of these complexity to life on film.
Howl is a conceited, showy, but ultimately caring wizard who is pulled to the great battle in order to help alleviate the crisis while dealing with his own personal problems. His heart is absent, he is afraid of losing his beautiful looks, and he is having ‘female problems.’ Howl’s magical personality is brilliantly juxtaposed with his human frailties. And the great Bale, who masterfully depicts the perpetual conflict of being a human, brings all of these complexity to life on film.
Sophie was able to let go of the extra baggage of vanity and looks as her senior form, eventually coming into her own as the main lady of her life. Despite the fact that she lacks magical abilities (unlike Sophie in the novel), Miyazaki bestows on her the superpowers of empathy and compassion, as well as a determination that her younger self lacked. Howl’s Moving Castle is a pleasant, hilarious film that remains as ageless and attractive today as it did when it first came out, thanks to its mix of tiny and large themes.
