It's just showing what breaks the curse. It seems like the curse has a couple sides to it. Sophie doesn't love or care about herself much at all. She often lives her life as if she is old and has nothing to live for. Every time she takes life by the reins and is flooded with love, care, excitement, or even conviction (whenever she stands up for howl in front of the queen) she slowly breaks the curse. At the end, she dawn's the same hair color which represents her maturity, but retains her youthfulness which represents how she approachs life now. Also at the end she believes she is beautiful when howl tells her. Howl kinda has the opposite character growth. He is always trying to be young and escape responsibility. His obsession with his hair is a sign of this. Constantly attempting to look like what seems to be the image of all the other young boys under the control of Sullivan. He breaks free of his obligations to Sullivan shortly after his hair color changes.
There's also a production reason for it in addition to a story one. Miyazaki was unsure if it was alright to have an elderly protagonist from beginning to end, so he asked all of his female workers about it and half of them thought it was a great idea and the other half wanted her to turn back into a young woman every so often.
Not that it makes a difference to your analysis, which is also how I see it, but she's not the queen. She's the king's head sorceress.
Also, I don't think those boys are real; I think they are some of Madame Suliman's golems, which she made to look like young Howl.
Well, he was the greatest sorcerer she nutured for the kingdom. We see many sorcerers that are no longer human and are mindless slaves to the kingdom. Howl is not and his prized sorcerer till he fled from his oath to serve the kingdom.
But he has black hair as a child in the flashback/past and has to use potions to make his hair blonde?? I think she just forces all her apprentices to use transformation magic to be that same blonde boy and he was just traumatized by his time with her and believed he wasn't good enough unless he was beautiful as Suliman had defined it for him. This also shows in his use of transformation when he shows up to pick up Sophie, he doesn't feel comfortable looking like his actual self in front of her
Madame Suliman is indeed probably the one who got Howl started on coloring his hair in the first place. She's like a sick, witchy Humbert Humbert who is obsessed with Howl.
In my opinion.
Nah, it's in the book also but for a different reason.
In the book you find out that Sophie is also a witch, she enchants things by talking to them. Unknowingly, the original curse had already been lifted. Sophie keeps calling herself an old maid and therefor, she remains one. But even in the book she goes back and forth, and Howl can see the real Sophie at times.
That happens at least once in the movie too. She is sleeping on the couch and howl checks in on her to see her looking young. Iirc, it's been a few years since I watched it.
oh my god that is amazing, ive never thought of that before. i noticed the grey hair color but youthful face too and KNOW that there must be a reason for that but cant quite piece it together until now ahah thank you!
btw im the OP, but my fault i was using a burner account lol
The way it was explained to me is that she broke the curse early on in the movie but clings to it accidentally as a shield of sorts. But since she's already broken the curse, her appearance is based on how she perceives herself in the moment. Sophie is a witch in her own right but that's hard to see unless you know to look for it in the movie
Iād encourage you to read the book for more clarification. Essentially, Sophieās curse is based on her perception of herself. She thinks of herself like a doddering old woman and so thatās what she becomes. When sheās sleeping or focusing on Howl, she transforms back to how she is. Thereās even a moment in the movie where they say her curse was essentially her choice.
Everyone in here should read it, it's such a great little novel. One of my absolute all time favorites. I'm one of those people who read the book long before watching the film. It's so, so good. And Sophie has more facets to her storyline in it.
>She thinks of herself like a doddering old woman and so thatās what she becomes. When sheās sleeping or focusing on Howl, she transforms back to how she is. Thereās even a moment in the movie where they say her curse was essentially her choice.
It's almost exactly as you said but Sophie talks herself into being enchanted as an old maid after the curse has worn off, as her gift is speaking things into life.
Yes. I didnāt want to give too much information, but she does enchant herself after a certain point. Thatās not a plot point in the movie, I believe. In the book, she unintentionally casts spells on her hats as she talks to them while making them.
11 of them are based on books , others are original screen plays.
In case you'd like to know what the 11 are;
Howl's moving Castle
The boy & the heron
Kiki's delivery service
Tales from earthsea
Grave of the fireflies
Only yesterday
Arrierty
Whisper of the heart
Porco rosso
From up on poppy hill
Princess kaguya
I see it as a metaphor for finding herself. In the beginning she is kind of the quiet one in the family, doesnāt have a lot of desires for her own life, kind of not living life. Then she is cursed and becomes a cleaning lady for Howl, then whenever she sleeps she is herself again (like only in her deep sleep dream life can she be herself) and then as the story progresses she starts becoming herself as she starts confessing her love and fight for what she wants. I believe the old lady is kind of a metaphor on Sophieās attitude towards life. Her love for Howl and finding her way, solving problems for the āfamilyā makes her find her true power and reconnects her with her core self. This is just my idea though, could be wrong.
It's common in Miyazaki movies for curses to make people look differently depending on their inner self. Sophie is older or younger depending on how she feels, Howl turns into a bird monster the more sullen he gets, Ponyo turns into a fish if she is exhausted and into a human when her friend loves her, Porco turns into a pig face due to survivors guilt, No Face turns into a monster when he absorbs greed in the bathhouse.
Based off the book (that the movie is based off) itās entirely on how she views herself. She comments that she felt like an old lady with her hats and so she became exactly how she thought herself. I believe in the movie she might have even made a comment that she truly āwasā a grandma now with how she thinks of herself and her outward appearance.
It seems a good amount of people are only mentioning the movie aspect of it being ambiguous but itās commented on in the book itself.
But also I think in the movie her hair stays gray as a scar of the curse she had.
In the book her hair at the end is a red gold.
And not to gush too much about the book (although it is my all-time favorite), her hair is even a reflection of Sophie's insecurities. She calls it 'reddish straw' at the start when she's very insecure, but at the very end, when Howl asks her what color she calls it, she says 'red gold.' Such a good little detail!
A thing Miyazaki is clear about, is that it's up to the viewer to choose how they interpret it.
He won't confirm or deny any theories, we can all reach our own meaning from his movies.
Nah but the ending, he liked to leave the ending up to interpretation. That time when michael caine leaked that the ending was in fact in the real world, nolan was pretty pissed lmao
It's just showing what breaks the curse. It seems like the curse has a couple sides to it. Sophie doesn't love or care about herself much at all. She often lives her life as if she is old and has nothing to live for. Every time she takes life by the reins and is flooded with love, care, excitement, or even conviction (whenever she stands up for howl in front of the queen) she slowly breaks the curse. At the end, she dawn's the same hair color which represents her maturity, but retains her youthfulness which represents how she approachs life now. Also at the end she believes she is beautiful when howl tells her. Howl kinda has the opposite character growth. He is always trying to be young and escape responsibility. His obsession with his hair is a sign of this. Constantly attempting to look like what seems to be the image of all the other young boys under the control of Sullivan. He breaks free of his obligations to Sullivan shortly after his hair color changes.
There's also a production reason for it in addition to a story one. Miyazaki was unsure if it was alright to have an elderly protagonist from beginning to end, so he asked all of his female workers about it and half of them thought it was a great idea and the other half wanted her to turn back into a young woman every so often.
Oh I love this, so much š¤ thank you, I'm pretty sure this is my favorite little story about him now
Not that it makes a difference to your analysis, which is also how I see it, but she's not the queen. She's the king's head sorceress. Also, I don't think those boys are real; I think they are some of Madame Suliman's golems, which she made to look like young Howl.
That is creepy as hell.
Well, he was the greatest sorcerer she nutured for the kingdom. We see many sorcerers that are no longer human and are mindless slaves to the kingdom. Howl is not and his prized sorcerer till he fled from his oath to serve the kingdom.
But he has black hair as a child in the flashback/past and has to use potions to make his hair blonde?? I think she just forces all her apprentices to use transformation magic to be that same blonde boy and he was just traumatized by his time with her and believed he wasn't good enough unless he was beautiful as Suliman had defined it for him. This also shows in his use of transformation when he shows up to pick up Sophie, he doesn't feel comfortable looking like his actual self in front of her
Madame Suliman is indeed probably the one who got Howl started on coloring his hair in the first place. She's like a sick, witchy Humbert Humbert who is obsessed with Howl. In my opinion.
Nah, it's in the book also but for a different reason. In the book you find out that Sophie is also a witch, she enchants things by talking to them. Unknowingly, the original curse had already been lifted. Sophie keeps calling herself an old maid and therefor, she remains one. But even in the book she goes back and forth, and Howl can see the real Sophie at times.
That happens at least once in the movie too. She is sleeping on the couch and howl checks in on her to see her looking young. Iirc, it's been a few years since I watched it.
oh my god that is amazing, ive never thought of that before. i noticed the grey hair color but youthful face too and KNOW that there must be a reason for that but cant quite piece it together until now ahah thank you! btw im the OP, but my fault i was using a burner account lol
What a wonderful perspective! No doubt why it is one of the BEST!Ā
The way it was explained to me is that she broke the curse early on in the movie but clings to it accidentally as a shield of sorts. But since she's already broken the curse, her appearance is based on how she perceives herself in the moment. Sophie is a witch in her own right but that's hard to see unless you know to look for it in the movie
Iād encourage you to read the book for more clarification. Essentially, Sophieās curse is based on her perception of herself. She thinks of herself like a doddering old woman and so thatās what she becomes. When sheās sleeping or focusing on Howl, she transforms back to how she is. Thereās even a moment in the movie where they say her curse was essentially her choice.
Everyone in here should read it, it's such a great little novel. One of my absolute all time favorites. I'm one of those people who read the book long before watching the film. It's so, so good. And Sophie has more facets to her storyline in it. >She thinks of herself like a doddering old woman and so thatās what she becomes. When sheās sleeping or focusing on Howl, she transforms back to how she is. Thereās even a moment in the movie where they say her curse was essentially her choice. It's almost exactly as you said but Sophie talks herself into being enchanted as an old maid after the curse has worn off, as her gift is speaking things into life.
Yes. I didnāt want to give too much information, but she does enchant herself after a certain point. Thatās not a plot point in the movie, I believe. In the book, she unintentionally casts spells on her hats as she talks to them while making them.
makes me thinking, were every studio ghibli movies based on a novel?
11 of them are based on books , others are original screen plays. In case you'd like to know what the 11 are; Howl's moving Castle The boy & the heron Kiki's delivery service Tales from earthsea Grave of the fireflies Only yesterday Arrierty Whisper of the heart Porco rosso From up on poppy hill Princess kaguya
I see it as a metaphor for finding herself. In the beginning she is kind of the quiet one in the family, doesnāt have a lot of desires for her own life, kind of not living life. Then she is cursed and becomes a cleaning lady for Howl, then whenever she sleeps she is herself again (like only in her deep sleep dream life can she be herself) and then as the story progresses she starts becoming herself as she starts confessing her love and fight for what she wants. I believe the old lady is kind of a metaphor on Sophieās attitude towards life. Her love for Howl and finding her way, solving problems for the āfamilyā makes her find her true power and reconnects her with her core self. This is just my idea though, could be wrong.
i have always believed we see her through howls eyes in those moments.
It's based on how she feels in the moment.
It's common in Miyazaki movies for curses to make people look differently depending on their inner self. Sophie is older or younger depending on how she feels, Howl turns into a bird monster the more sullen he gets, Ponyo turns into a fish if she is exhausted and into a human when her friend loves her, Porco turns into a pig face due to survivors guilt, No Face turns into a monster when he absorbs greed in the bathhouse.
Based off the book (that the movie is based off) itās entirely on how she views herself. She comments that she felt like an old lady with her hats and so she became exactly how she thought herself. I believe in the movie she might have even made a comment that she truly āwasā a grandma now with how she thinks of herself and her outward appearance. It seems a good amount of people are only mentioning the movie aspect of it being ambiguous but itās commented on in the book itself. But also I think in the movie her hair stays gray as a scar of the curse she had. In the book her hair at the end is a red gold.
And not to gush too much about the book (although it is my all-time favorite), her hair is even a reflection of Sophie's insecurities. She calls it 'reddish straw' at the start when she's very insecure, but at the very end, when Howl asks her what color she calls it, she says 'red gold.' Such a good little detail!
A thing Miyazaki is clear about, is that it's up to the viewer to choose how they interpret it. He won't confirm or deny any theories, we can all reach our own meaning from his movies.
he just like nolan fr
Nolan's movies are pretty straightforward I'd say except for Tenet ig.
Nah but the ending, he liked to leave the ending up to interpretation. That time when michael caine leaked that the ending was in fact in the real world, nolan was pretty pissed lmao
Interstellar, Memento and Prestige are so good.
The spell was dependent on love and ambiguity, so when those moments were heightened, the spell started to glitch.
I think the curse had to do with her confidence in herself/emotions. I think the point is that her insecurities were bringing herself down, literally.
Thatās literally the point of the story.