Director: Miyazaki Hayao
Release time: 2004
Introduction: The film is adapted from The Magician Hal and the Devil of Fire by British children novelist Diana W Jones. It tells the growth story of how young Hal and Sophie untied their own life curse under the background of war.
Hal's mobile castle is a heart-shaped behemoth made of various steel products. It is driven by the fire demon Cassifa and walks heavily between towns. Cassifa was originally a meteor. Hal used to hold this meteor in his childhood and silently made a wish. Then, take out your childlike innocence and give it to Cahill. From then on, they all had magic. Through magic, Hal became an eagle, tirelessly preventing shells from attacking houses on the battlefield; Through magic, Cassifa drove Hal's mobile castle and walked in barren hills and towns in the mountains. For a long time, the mobile castle seems to have been looking for something.
Sophie, a quiet, introverted and even somewhat inferior girl, fell in love with Hal at first sight, but was cursed by a witch in the wilderness and turned into an old woman. With the help of the scarecrow, she came to Hal's mobile castle and worked there as a cleaner. Her brave, optimistic and firm qualities inspired Hal and helped him find his childlike innocence. Not only that, Sophie, Hal, Kassifa, Scarecrow, Little Luke and Wild Witch helped each other, and finally solved all kinds of curses on them, ushered in the end of the war and a new life.
When I closed my eyes, various movie scenes began to emerge in my mind. For example, ever-changing images, such as Hal's mobile castle, Hal's "eagle" posture, a war machine with a shark appearance, nature with flowers and rivers, and so on. Besides, there are many recurring thoughts, such as "Curse and Uncurse", "Youth and Aging", "Escape and Courage", "Freedom and Bound" and "Love and Being Loved". Like Spirited Away (refer to Recommend Spirited Away | Find the Lost Oneself), this film is also rich in symbols and metaphors.
Theme 1: The so-called "curse", the mystery of growth.
Curse and unlock the curse-this is a pair of recurring ideas in the film. The curse in the film has several similarities: you can't tell outsiders; Although they were all imposed by magic people, they could not solve these curses; The way to break the curse is almost always in the mutual connection and healing between people. The process of unlocking the curse is the process of human growth.
Because she fell in love with Hal at first sight and was jealous of the witch in the wilderness, she turned him into an old man in the twilight. The special thing about this curse is that it can't tell others. When she wants to complain to others that the witch cursed her, she will lose her voice at once. In fact, this curse stems from Sophie's own inner reality. Sophie was tempted by the handsome young Hal who saved himself when he was harassed. But she thinks she is "not beautiful" and dare not face her true thoughts.
In the film, the cursed Sophie comes to the mobile castle in Hal and begins an unknown journey. During this journey, she appeared alternately in different situations such as girlish posture and old age. From an introverted self-abased 18-year-old girl to a 90-year-old mother-in-law, she has experienced many tests of re-understanding herself, understanding the world and helping others, gradually showing her youth and vitality that she never showed even in her girlhood, and finally becoming a mature woman.
In a sense, her inferiority and retreat are her "curse"-she is a girl Sophie when she is brave, and she becomes Sophie's mother-in-law when she retreats. The most vivid example is her dream.
One night, Sophie saw Hal dragging his tired and injured body from the battlefield back to the castle in a dream, trudging and looking depressed. Sophie in the dream is a young girl. She was worried about Hal, so she went to Hal's bedroom and found that Hal had become a demon with fangs, squatting alone in the corner, panting. Sophie said sadly, "I want to help you break the spell." In the dream, Hal asked, "Can't you untie yourself with your own spell?" "Because I love you so much!" Sophie blurted out. "It's too late." Say that finish, Hal suddenly fell into the abyss of the cave, Sophie instantly changed back to the old woman with drooping head.
Curse itself is no longer a curse, but an opportunity for Sophie to grow up.
In Hal's childhood, many meteors fell beside beautiful stars. Once a meteor falls, its life is over. Hal saved the life of the last meteor, Cassifa, and made a silent wish with it, hoping that people could live in peace. Hal swallowed it, fused his fiery childlike innocence with Cassifa, and saved it in the form of fire demon. Finally, he piously took out this * * * identical body from his heart.
This is the contract between them: Cassifa realized Hal's wish, and Hal cleared Cassifa. Since then, Hal's life has been closely linked with that of Kassifa. If Cassifa dies, Hal dies, too. However, because of this contract, Cassifa lost his freedom. Cassifa thought it was his own curse. He told Sophie, "As long as you see through the secret of my contract with Hal, the curse will be broken. In this way, your curse can be solved. "
Hal, who lost his precious childlike innocence, used to be a playboy and had sex with a witch in the wilderness, but later found out that "she was a terrible person" and ran away. Hal built a mobile castle by Cahill's magic. The rooms in the castle are full of all kinds of toys, but in fact, those toys are all to avoid the spells used by wild witches. He must also use multiple names to avoid the witch who is searching for him in the wilderness and the king's call to war. From this perspective, Hal's "curse" also includes "escape".
In the mobile castle, there is a Maruk who looks and behaves like a little prince. When Hal is not in the castle, he will handle the affairs of the castle. The similarity between Maruk and the little prince is probably not a coincidence. He is the only person in Hal's mobile castle who is not cursed. It symbolizes the purest part of Hal's heart that is not cursed.
Hal's life is subtly connected with that of Cassifa. Cassifa still drives Hal's mobile castle, that is, the displaced childlike innocence, hiding, looking for and fighting everywhere: avoiding the witch of the wilderness, the king and the royal magician saliman; Fighting to protect towns and residents in the war; Find a quiet habitat for the soul. When Hal stopped running with Sophie's encouragement and trust, his curse was broken.
Hal came to the palace and confronted his former teacher, saliman, saying that he would never join the war. Saliman used magic to present Hal's inner fears in a realistic fantasy in an attempt to force Hal to yield to serve the king. Sophie put her hand over Hal's eyes in an emergency. This shows that the curse and fear that Hal feels does not exist in reality, but also stems from his psychological reality.
The release of the spell lies in being seen, understood, and then recognizing yourself. When the deepest thing in a person's heart is understood, the curse is broken and the person is cured. To unlock Hal's curse, we need to "understand" him; To break the scarecrow's curse, it needs a kiss from the girl he loves; In order to solve the curse of Cassifa, we need to see through the nature of the secret between him and Hal; In order to unlock Sophie's curse, she needs help to unlock the secrets of Hal and Cassifa. When people's lives are interconnected, these curses are more likely to be solved one by one.
Theme 2: Self-identity
Sophie used to sew hats in her father's hat shop before she met Hal. I did this because this hat shop is my father's precious legacy. As my eldest daughter, I should continue my father's career. But she never thought about what she liked to do. My sister asked her, "Do you really like to be a hat all your life? This is your life, you have to make a choice for yourself! " Sophie had no time to answer this question, but it was like a seed buried in her heart.
After being cursed, Sophie looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't believe it. Is that me in the mirror? Who the hell am I? The great change of physical condition interrupted Sophie's original self-cognition, forcing Sophie to start a journey from body identity to self-identity. Faced with this identity crisis, Sophie decided to run away from home. You need to "escape" at least once to grow. This "runaway" is not necessarily a physical runaway, but a psychological runaway. Leave the original comfort zone, embark on an unknown journey, experience yourself and find self-identity.
After leaving, Sophie came to Hal's mobile castle to help each other with her friends and gradually got more ideas about herself. She gradually understood and became convinced of her values and knew what kind of life she wanted to live to realize them. One day, Sophie's mother came to visit Sophie, told her that she had married a rich man and wanted to live a very rich life, and asked Sophie if she would like to go back and live such a life together. Sophie loves her mother very much, but she already has a lover in her heart. She wants to be with her lover. She would rather stay and wander around with Hal and everyone in the war.
For young girls and boys, having a handsome appearance or perfect love can always make them more confident. It even constitutes their self-identity to some extent. The witch of the wilderness is actually an old woman in her 100 s, but she is not willing to get old. She has a young body through magic and strongly loves and longs for Hal's young heart. But then the magician Salman took away her magic and she returned to her normal age. Without magic, for a long time, she was still obsessed with getting Hal's heart, or the desire for youth.
Hal has experienced similar challenges. Once, because his hair was dyed bad, Hal couldn't accept himself and felt very desperate. He slumped down in his chair and muttered, "It's all over. Living is not beautiful, living is boring. " Then, the moving castle began to be filled with more and more dark and terrible black shadows-this is Hal calling the dark elves. Hal used to call when he was dumped by a girl. The dark elves pervaded the room, which seemed to be a realistic reflection of Hal's depressed and desperate inner world. In the face of Hal's despair, Sophie was at a loss for a moment. She shouted, "I have never been beautiful!" " "Then he ran out of the castle and cried and ran into the rain. She even wanted to give up.
(writing here, it is really not difficult to understand why the plastic surgery industry is so developed, people are flocking to it, and the failure of plastic surgery has brought a fatal blow to people. Therefore, for people who need major plastic surgery, the first problem to be solved is not the external image, but the internal psychological construction. Of course, this is beside the point. )
"Never Beautiful" became an old woman standing in the heavy rain in dismay. The scarecrow jumped beside her and held up an umbrella for her. Sophie summoned up her courage again and accepted the reality. When she experienced and confirmed herself from other aspects of people other than appearance, she began to transcend external restrictions and gained spiritual growth. Her growth gradually influenced the people around her. She realized that Hal was very sincere. He just wanted to live a free and peaceful life and bring this peace to people. She said to Hal, "even if Hal is a monster, I don't care." I hope to be your strength. "
Hal's self-awareness woke up very early. Although he was a disciple of saliman, he did not give his heart to saliman, nor did he become the successor of Shaliman. Instead, he gave his heart to Cassifa, a meteor who can realize his wish. However, for a long time, Sariman was quite dissatisfied with this. She thought, "The child's heart was taken away by the devil, so he left me. The child is dangerous, but he has great strength without a heart. If he doesn't serve the country, I have to take away his magic. " Hal respects his teacher saliman. However, inspired and trusted by Sophie, he no longer agrees with saliman. He bravely expressed his independent thoughts. He knew that he wanted a peaceful and free life, neither giving in to authority nor escaping.
Self-identity sometimes becomes a negative evaluation of others. Meteor Cassifa called himself "the devil" until he was free. However, we can't see Cassirer's evil at all from the film. "Demon" is the name that Sariman, a more authoritative magician, added to Cassifa. Cassifa never even questioned such a label.
Theme 3: Love
Before Hal got up the courage to face his teacher saliman for the first time, he suggested that Sophie pretend to be her mother and go to the palace, assuming that her son was too timid to take part in the war. Before Sophie left, he took off his ring and put it on Sophie's index finger. It can protect Sophie's safety, guide the direction and perceive Hal's existence. Seeing Sophie in Sariman, she was not afraid of the majesty of the Palace and Sariman, and expressed her understanding and trust in Hal, leaving Sariman speechless. At the same time, Sariman also saw the love between them.
One day, Hal gave Sophie two extremely precious gifts. The first gift is to turn into a hat workshop. This is exactly the same as Sophie's workshop in her father's hat shop. This workshop carries Sophie's childhood and adolescence, and even Sophie's deep feelings for her father, perhaps including Sophie's dreams and wishes with her father, family inheritance, and so on. Such a gift is like saying that Hal knows Sophie, knows her past and cherishes her past.
Another most precious gift is Hal's own secret garden. Under the blue sky, a beautiful hut is located on the endless green grass covered with flowers. Sophie, who came here for the first time, felt incredible and had a sense of deja vu. She almost shed tears and felt like home here. Hal said, this is the magician's uncle quietly left him a cabin. He often comes here alone, and Sophie can enter here freely from now on. The gift here is like saying that Hal invited Sophie to her past and her softest inner world.
This secret garden is not a garden in the real world, but the best memory of Hal's childhood, the best part of his inner world and his refuge. Sophie can enter freely, which shows that Hal has the most sincere trust among his partners and is the natural sublimation of his love for Sophie.
When Hal was bleeding on the battlefield, the mobile castle fell off the cliff and fell apart. Under the guidance of the ring, Sophie found any door to the secret garden, passed through the darkness she had just visited and returned to Hal's childhood. In Hal's childhood fantasy, she saw how he saved the meteor Cassifa, how to make a wish, how to swallow the meteor, and how to take out his heart by the Xinghu Lake. At the moment when she left her visitor, she shouted, "Hal, Caspar, wait for me! I will definitely come back for you! Wait for me later! "
Just then, Hal heard the call of his lover. So, he has been looking for it. He loves so many girls, and it is rumored that he eats the hearts of beautiful women. He took a detour on the road of love, but in the end, he met her at a corner. So, their meeting turned into a date. That's why Hal always knew Sophie, no matter how old she was after being cursed. That's why Sophie felt deja vu when Hal gave Sophie the secret garden as a gift. Finally, Sophie realized that Hal had been waiting for her. She had mixed feelings and shed tears.
People who love each other can recognize each other. Once you recognize each other, you will never give up.
Theme 4: Anti-war
The background of the story is in a quiet and peaceful town. Fighters are flying everywhere and the national flag is flying. It conveys a strong sense of war. Fighters, warships, trains, cars and chimneys keep pouring out thick black smoke, covering more than half of the blue sky.
Little Luke stayed in Hal's mobile castle and always used magic to help the surrounding residents. With Salman's magic, the palace will not be broken by bombs. But all the bombs fell on the surrounding houses. So Hal often goes out to do very dangerous work-use magic to suck shells on himself to prevent the damage of war to towns and residents. He often fights on the fire in the dark. After the battle, his body smelled of charred creatures and steel.
The warships and fighters in the film have shark-like shapes. It means the role of war in the law of the jungle world. In the eyes of Hal and Kassifa, those soldiers or people who participated in the war were described as "such monsters". "They will cry miserably and never become human again. They even forgot to cry. " -War has turned people into monsters. When people go further and further on the road of war, I'm afraid they will get further and further away from the meaning of being a man.
Hal told his teacher Sariman that he would not be called to war. Those warships that want to attack towns and people, whether the enemy or our side, are murderers. This is also the film's attitude towards war.
Finally, let's go back to the title of the film-Hal's moving castle. The castle looks like a heart from a distance. It is driven by the childlike charm of Cassifa, so the moving castle seems to symbolize Hal's heart. There is a turntable on the door handle of the castle, which can lead to different arbitrary doors. It seems to symbolize that Hal can freely switch to different spiritual spaces in the imaginary world of the mind. Therefore, he can switch from the battlefield to the secret garden. To protect this castle, you can't just hide in it and be a coward. You need to have the courage to face external difficulties and challenges.
The castle at the beginning and the castle at the end are no longer the same. The castle at the beginning of the film is made of steel, and the interior is in a mess, just like walking in an abandoned soul and moving between towns; At the end of the film, green grass and trees grow on the castle, and the lovers get together. This walking heart also symbolizes the heart of each of us. With the support of peers, we can get great growth and leap by solving the "curse" one by one.
Recommended reading (other movies in Miyazaki Hayao):
Spirited Away: Looking for the Lost Self.
City of the sky: Everyone has a city of the sky.
The wind is blowing: times and personal destiny are intertwined.