Produced in 2004, Hal's Moving Castle, the storyline is not original to Miyazaki, but to the British adaptation of Javier the Sorcerer and the Devil of Fire, and only some of them have been intercepted.
So we will feel that its style is not so Miyazaki Hayao. But "simple innocence" and "sweet music" have put it under the label of Miyazaki Hayao, which may be the greatness of a master, and any imported product can be perfectly labeled with its own characteristics.
But precisely because it is only a part of the interception, coupled with the core originating in Europe and the United States, so that many people generally understand the direction of the plot, but in some details, they are confused and do not understand.
Synopsis:
After her father left, her remarried mother and sister went their separate ways to pursue their own happiness, while Sophie stayed at the hat shop left by her father. The lack of affection and the incompleteness of childhood made Sophie an extremely unconfident person.
The quiet town is shattered by war, and the ubiquitous soldiers make the atmosphere of the town more dignified.
At this time there is a story circulating in the town about Hal and his moving castle, and it is rumored that Hal likes the heart of a young and beautiful girl.
One day Sophie was walking on the road, teased by the patrolling soldiers, and when she was overwhelmed, Hal appeared. Rescues Sophie and takes Sophie flying in the air.
When Sophie returns home again, a passing witch casts a spell on Sophie, and Sophie becomes an old grandmother.
Sophie's already fragile mind could not stand the blow of sudden aging, so she chose to flee the town and come to the suburbs.
On the way she rescues a scarecrow entangled in dry grass, and the grateful scarecrow guides Sophie into Hal's mobile castle.
The next story, Sophie and Hal, and the flame Cassifah in the castle, the child Maruk has a series of wonderful journeys.
In the end, Sophie saves Hal, Cassifah, and the Scarecrow, and the war finally stops.
"Hal's Moving Castle" has unfortunate curses, wars, dilemmas, and chases, but it gives people a strong sense of "no hurry". When I watched it, I always felt very calm, successfully slowed down in this world that had to move forward, and in the tens of minutes of watching the movie, I was no longer urged by anyone.
And what kind of girl is Sophie? In today's parlance, she is called a Buddhist girl, indifferent and indifferent to most things in this world, including herself, this young and beautiful girl, but with an old heart, other girls twittering to go out to play, Sophie making hats.
The other girls are talking about the "devil eating" boy Hal, Sophie is making hats; the other girls are gone, and Sophie is still making hats. It's not that she loves hats deeply, it's that she has no interest in anything else.
In this animation, the heroine does not need the girl's heart to be silly and sweet, the male protagonist is not a good man who has lost his meaning although he has a stunningly beautiful face, and the development of the emotional line is not so unforgettable and thrilling... But everything was fine.
Sophie's psychological age is old, the Wasteland Witch turns Sophie into an old lady, more like making Sophie's physical age and psychological age merge into one, replaced by an ordinary girl, it is estimated that she will have a nervous breakdown when she finds herself an old lady, but Sophie almost accepted this fact in just one day, Sophie chose to self-exile, went to the wilderness, under the wrong circumstances, she lived in Hal's mobile castle, became the castle cleaner, and lived with Hal, Hal's little apprentice, the fire demon Karsifa.
I always had the feeling that Hal had recognized Sophie as the girl in the town, but hadn't said anything. Sophie joined the family of moving castles as cleaning ladies. Life is simple and fun, washing and cleaning the house, drying clothes when out in the sun, drinking afternoon tea in the wilderness. However, there are also often oolongs. The people in the castle quickly fell in love with Old Sophie. Although Sophie has grown older, her courage, positivity and optimism have always been in her heart, and she has never been afraid of fate.
As war breaks out, Sophie discovers Hal's secret, and Hal signs a pact with the devil as a teenager, and is blackmailed into using his magic to help the country win the war. Hal thought war was stupid, so he changed his identity to avoid his captors. Hal's spell will turn him into a devil. When using powerful magic, he transforms into a giant bird. The handsome boy turned into a devil at that moment.
While watching the film, I have been paying attention to the pattern of Sophie's age change, and I have found that When Sophie becomes younger, she always seems to be related to Hal. Standing in the rain and crying after arguing with Hal; for Hal to argue with Shaliman in the palace, at this time Sophie has completely changed into the appearance of a girl, from these, we can see that the former Sophie, indifferent to everything in the world, no mood swings, no joy, no sadness, and not for herself or others emotionally excited, and after living in Hal's castle, Sophie began to have changes in her heart and changes in mood, all because of our hero: Hal. So what is the reason for the lifting of magic? Because of love.
In the second half of the film, this change is even more pronounced. After Hal leaves, Sophie does her best to protect her family. At this time, Sophie showed strong, brave, decisive, smart and not cowardly, and sophie who was indifferent to anything in the hat shop before, how could Sophie be an old lady, so at this time Sophie was completely restored to a girl. Finally, when Sophie crosses over to Hal's teenage years and finds that Hal has been waiting for her all these years, the flame of that love burns madly, and at this time, Sophie's heart is no longer old and desolate, so the witch's magic is automatically lifted.
In my opinion, Hal and Sophie are each other's salvation and help. This also leads to a whole new life. The greatest heart death in life is nothing more than immutable.
There is also the love of Sophie and Hal, the two people meet in a hero to save the United States, but the two truly love each other is infiltrated and the bits and pieces of life. In the process of living together, Sophie slowly began to understand Hal's vulnerability and responsibility, and Hal also understood Sophie's inferiority and bravery. So good love grows together and penetrates into each other's lives, and when you fall in love with each other's brilliance, you will also fall in love with each other's vulnerability.
The characters in this film are actually the epitome of our lives, such as the very greedy but eventually become the old woman of the wilderness witch, the kind Sophie and the brave Hal, who will eventually live a beautiful and desirable life under the warmth of love.