MovieChat Forums > Hauru no ugoku shiro (2005) Discussion > Several things I didn't understand:

Several things I didn't understand:

posted 9 years ago by EricCartmanBrah
11 replies | jump to latest

1. Did Howl always know the old lady was the same young lady he escorted at the beginning of the movie?

2. Why did he put her in the middle of his conflict by doing that in the first place? Wasn't he aware of what could happen?

3. Why did the old witch cast a curse on her to begin with? I get it had to do with Howl, but why did she have anything against him?

4. Why did the old witch get back to her true self after getting surrounded by that ring of demons, but Sophie did not when the same happened to her?

5. Why did Sophie turn young when she slept?

6. Why was Sophie so kind to the old witch when she lost her powers despite what she had done to her?

7. After Sophie gets old she for like 40 minutes remains that very old lady look. But the next 20 minutes or so, she changes looks all the time from very old to slightly old to her usual young self minus the gray hair. What the hell was up with that?

8. Then after that, she remains young. Is that a sign the curse spell is gone? But if that's the case, why is her hair still gray like an old lady for the rest of the movie instead of changing to her usual brunette?

I would greatly appreciate all of these questions being answered.

[–] EricCartmanBrah 9 years ago

Is nobody able to answer these questions? I'd love to get clarification on all of this.

[–] Suzume-san 9 years ago

I think the curse is partly in her own mind. When she's feeling happy it eases; when she's asleep it doesn't operate at all.
Have you seen Porco Rosso? The curse that turned Marco into a pig is his own feeling of guilt and self-loathing.

[–] EricCartmanBrah 9 years ago

Sorry that's not true. We see several passerbys adress her as old after she's cursed, plus one of her coworkers telling her she sounds like a 90 year old.

I have seen Porco Rosso, yes. Why is that relevant here? She doesn't seem to have any guilt of self loathing.

[–] Suzume-san 9 years ago

Well, but that's not quite what I meant. The curse is real enough, certainly, put on her by the witch of the West; I agree, people who see her take her for an old woman. But as time goes on the curse seems to be weakening; when she's feeling happy and confident she looks quite young, when she is unhappy the curse becomes stronger again. And when she's asleep it doesn't work at all, which certainly seems to me to suggest that it needs her waking mind to keep it going.

Sophie doesn't feel guilt in the same way as Porco does, but she has a low opinion of herself, doesn't she? She doesn't think she's beautiful or strong like her younger sister and her mother; and she constantly refers to herself and her doings as 'humble'. Part of this is just the Japanese convention of polite speech, of course, but I think it reflects her real feelings. As she becomes more confident and independent, towards the end of the film, the curse is almost completely worn off.

[–] EricCartmanBrah 9 years ago

Ah ok, but that only answers one of my many questions. Honestly I felt the movie was a mess. No idea how Hayao considers it his best one.

[–] kass-jazz 9 years ago

I partially agree with the above poster. It's not really that the curse is all in her mind but that she is causing the curse to manifest through her own low self esteem and how she sees herself as 'frumpy'.
A couple of examples -
When howl rearranges the house and gives her her own bedroom she momentarily turns young (she is flattered because howl thought of her when he designed the room). Literally a second later she says 'it's the perfect room for an old woman' and instantly turns old again.
Another scene is when howl shows her the meadow he made for her and she appears young, he makes her feel special again. Then she turns old again almost immediately (saying something about being useless), at this point he even tries to reassure her by telling her she's beautiful.
At the end she finally breaks the curse on her own when she get a bit of self esteem and becomes a confident young woman.

[–] kdia 9 years ago

Well, I'll try to provide some sort of answers to your questions but keep in mind that it is a personal interpretation (oh, yes! and I absolutely adore this movie)

1. I am not sure.. but given that Howl is portrayed as a "player" (Calcifer has his heart, therefore we imagine Howl thinks only very pragmatically about women) I believe he was interested in Sophie only when she was young and beautiful and did not "care" about her when she was old. Maybe it's the Little Prince metaphor "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye"

2. As mentioned above, Howl (his mind without his heart) seems to be the kind of guy that uses women without caring about hurting them or their feelings. This changes later on since Calcifer (his heart) begins to love Sophie and him (Howl's mind) tends to follow the heart's desires.

3. The witch seems to have cast a spell on Sophie just to eliminate potential competition. It is mentioned later on that the Witch was obsessed with Howl and had no limits in her attempts to win him over. However the curse is indeed more related to the victim than to the caster and Sophie's low self-esteem and self-confidence play a huge part in this. I believe this is the reason why her appearance changes throughout the movie. As a plus, what better way is there to weaken your competition than pointing out your rival's flaws (the witch seems to do just that!)

4. Sophie was not a witch and the demons were only affecting those who had special powers. The ring of demons was meant to strip Howl of his powers. All Sophie had was her curse.

5. Because self-esteem and self-confidence dwell in the conscious mind even if their roots are in the unconscious mind... we wear them like clothes when we are awake but have very few reminders of them when we're asleep, only in our dreams, from time to time.

6. Well, Sophie has a very pure and merciful heart. What would be the point of hurting someone who has just lost everything!?

7. As I said, try to observe Sophie's level of confidence in herself throughout the movie- she generally believes herself unworthy of love, kindness and compliments from others and when she has bursts of self confidence and speaks from her strengths rather than her fears she gets younger (that is when her true self speaks out).

8. She does grow stronger than her curse but, as in life, some scars remain.

There you go, does that clear things up a bit? :D

[–] EricCartmanBrah 9 years ago

Yeah it does, thanks! Maybe I should re watch it, but I don't think anything can save my opinion of the last half of the movie, what a mess that was.

[–] RbSnedlap 9 years ago

I agree with you on most of this except for one thing.
Sophie actually WAS a witch although she didn`t realise it herself and was untrained.
In this world the witches/Wizards often make bargains with elemental spirits/demons in order to increase their power but have to bond with the demon by giving up part of themselves to the demon.

This is what Howl`s problem basically was, while still a young apprentice he`d foolishly bonded with Calcifer by giving up his heart and as a result he remained feckless and immature as he grew older as his heart remained that of a child.
This bond could not be broken without destroying Calcifer and seriously injuring Howl until Sophie came on the scene.
That`s what the `dancing figures` were all about. Its a spell of Madam Suliman`s that forcably breaks the bond between sorcerer and demon which destroys the demon and has a very unpleasant effect on the sorcerer as we saw with the Witch of the Waste. Her demon was destroyed and she became old and senile.

Now about Sophie, her own magical abilities don`t manifest until late in the film though I think Howl, the Witch and madam Suliman all see what she truly is as soon as they each meet her.
There are a few other clues as well, for example most people seem to be oblivious to the existence of the magically created `blob men`, just seeing a normal human but Sophie seems to be able to see them without any problems.
Sophie first begins to use her powers when she creates a second bond between herself and Calcifer in order to move the castle, giving up her long braided hair in the process and its because this second bond exists that she is able to free Howl and Calcifer from the curse their bond had become.
This is why her hair is now silver (it probably dosn`t grow either) as its now a symbol of the new bond between her and Calcifer.
The witches curse probably is still technically in effect but Sophie can now control it to some extent to appear any age she wants to be.
When we see the rebuilt castle flying at the end of the film it likely isn`t `Howl`s Moving Castle` anymore but `Sophie`s Flying Cottage`.
With his link with Calcifer removed Howl`s less powerful than before but he still has his knowledge and can advise Sophie on how to use her new powers.

"Any plan that involves losing your hat is a BAD plan.""

[–] kdia 9 years ago

I must admit you have a point with this approach, now that I come to think of it! (I wouldn't have looked at things like that, without some help... or maybe I have not seen the movie quite enough times :P)

[–] nosyzal 9 years ago

1. Did Howl always know the old lady was the same young lady he escorted at the beginning of the movie?
Yes he knows all the time. It's Sophie doesn't recognize him but he recognizes Sophie all the time. Remember in the end when Sophie finally realized Howl was waiting for her for long (she asked him to wait for her in the past), she cried and said sorry.

2. Why did he put her in the middle of his conflict by doing that in the first place? Wasn't he aware of what could happen?
Which conflict? He said if Sophie is not there, he won't be able to face Saliman. He's a coward boy, but when Sophie is there he feel stronger, that's their chemistry.

3. Why did the old witch cast a curse on her to begin with? I get it had to do with Howl, but why did she have anything against him?
Howl shown interest in the old witch before, and the old witch obsessed with Howl. It's like a woman so obsessed to a man while the man doesn't love her, she filled with hatred and try to destroy things around him.

4. Why did the old witch get back to her true self after getting surrounded by that ring of demons, but Sophie did not when the same happened to her?
Sophie has no magic power, she's a normal person.

5. Why did Sophie turn young when she slept?
That's the curse. it's like Fiona become fat and ugly once sun rise.

6. Why was Sophie so kind to the old witch when she lost her powers despite what she had done to her?
Because that's her personality.

7. After Sophie gets old she for like 40 minutes remains that very old lady look. But the next 20 minutes or so, she changes looks all the time from very old to slightly old to her usual young self minus the gray hair. What the hell was up with that?
Through the whole movie, every witch say they don't have a cure for the spell. You may think the cure for the curse is already hidden in the movie, where Sophie find it for herself, gradually.

8. Then after that, she remains young. Is that a sign the curse spell is gone? But if that's the case, why is her hair still gray like an old lady for the rest of the movie instead of changing to her usual brunette?
Yes it's gone. But you need to be a bit more open minded. The spell it's not what the story trying to focus, it's not a story that someone got a spell in the end the spell is gone and happily after. The story is more about the life. Everyone is so afraid to become old, become ugly (Howl especially), but Sophie handle being old, being ugly with a bigger heart, that's her beauty and strength Howl see from her. In the end Sophie's hair is white and Howl said that's beautiful, it's painted by the star lights. We need to appreciate different beauties. I think to appreciate that you need more life experiences.