Howl's Moving Castle

Actually this was not the first time I have seen Howl’s Moving Castle. I have seen this film in an adaptation course in which I read Diane Wynne Jones’ novel of the same name. Obviously like in every adaptation of a film, certain elements of the novel are difficult to translate into film and there is of course the issue of time. As Professor Cohen noted during the screening of the film, Miyazaki creates his own form and style. For instance, Sophie’s appearance constantly changes throughout the film. It seems as though Sophie’s appearance changes whenever she shows signs of happiness and self confidence. There is a scene when Sophie wakes up in the middle of the night in her true appearance and she walks upstairs to see Howl in is creature like form. This scene questions reality and as a viewer one cannot help but think the scene was merely a dream. In the following scene Sophie wakes up in her cursed form and notices Howl’s footprints on the floor. She seems indifferent about the fact Howl arrived home. Those two scenes need further investigation.

The ending of the film was rather different from the ending in the novel. In fact, as someone noted to me, after watching the ending one wouldn’t have believed it to be a Miyazaki film. Miyazaki creates a “happy ever after” ending the film by tying all the loose ends together which Miyazaki has yet to do in any of his other films. It’s ironic because Miyazaki mentions the happy ending movie by having the witch, Sullivan explicitly stating, “Oh a happy ending I see. You two-timer [to the dog]. Well there it is”. Sullivan seems disappointed and so did I. the ending felt so abrupt and random. Too many random things started happening but somehow fit into the story to allow a happy ending. I’m referencing the fact the turnip was a prince from a foreign land and the spell was broken once Sophie kissed him. The ending just seemed too farfetched.