Howl's Moving Castle (spoilers, probably)

I watched Howl's Moving Castle recently and enjoyed it, but the movie left a bunch of important stuff unanswered and really made the end quite confusing. I have a few questions that I was hoping the more savvy among us could answer for me.

1. OK, so what was the deal with Howl and Calcifer and their contract?

2. Why was Howl turning into the Blue Bird of Happiness(tm) and how was he out of danger after regaining his heart?

3. How come earlier when Sophie became young again, her hair turned brown again, but later her hair stayed gray?

4. So who wanted the war and why was it being fought? It appeared that Sulliman was apparently the person running the show, and therefore it was her war, but as soon as she sees that Howl is not turning into a nasty-looking bird that makes her instantly decide to cancel it. Why would that have anything to do with a war at all? It's also implied that the Prince fellow in the end has some sort of say in the whole process, but it was very confusing.

5. If Calcifer is no longer bound by contract, who is moving the flying castle in the end?

6. They called Howl cowardly and vain, but he did not really show himself to be either except in one scene.

7. Howl is reputed to kill beautiful young women, then later in the story calls Sophie beautiful. Is she in danger?

8. Where does the black pie slice of the dial go?

9. If Howl doesn't want to have anything to do with war, what is he doing flying around fighting in it?

10. Was Sophie's curse ever "officially" lifted?

And yep...that's about it. Any explainations would be appreciated.

Okay now I am not the creator of the movie and I am sure what one person gets from the movie could be totally different then from what the creator want’s so I thought I would give my opinion.

1. As far as I know this part was not completely explained in the movie all we see is the scene when Howl consumes Calcifer. What I guess is that Calcifer wanted to be free since he was a magic spell and the only way to do that was to obtain a heart and I feel the Howl was torn between his feelings on training to be a wizard.

2. I think Howl turned into the bird as a means of transportation to and from places where he needed to go not only as a disguise but also to be able to attack the enemies as well.

3. I believe that Sophie was in the process of half way breaking the spell that is why there was a scene where we say her young but still with grey hair.

4. The war started between the two countries because the country who lost its prince thought that the other country had kidnapped him and thus started the whole war. There was a war amongst the people and the kingdoms and then on top of that there was also a sort of like mini war against the wizards. Sulliman had some beef with Howl because Howl was not going to play by her rules and because Howl was doing magic his way and was not going by Sulliam's rules. Which in turn Howl's own magic was slowly taking over him and turning himself into a monster.

5. I would guess that Howl's own magic and the power of love are making the castle move.

6. The people's idea of a wizard was that they were very powerful and must be feared and also obeys their duties to their kings. Howl had run away from Sulliman many a times and did not even go to her himself to accept that he had to fight for the king although he was on both sides in a sense and with both of his names he had to fight against himself. I guess that is where he is cowardly as for vain I would say that is derived from the opinions of Sulliman and her hence men and the other wizards otherwise the only times he was really vain would be when he showed off how he could make this and that or when he thought his hair was ruined forever.

7. I would say that is just the villager’s rumors and after a while when all you hear is rumors that what you believe in. I doubt Sophie was ever in danger because Howl could have killed her first thing when she snuck in to stay warm by the fire.

8. I would like to say to a wasteland but I think it went to the area of war in the dimension that they were fighting in.

9. I think he wanted to protect Sophie's homeland and prove to her that he could make a difference. Also the more hatred he had he wanted to fight more.

10. I don't think a curse can ever be totally lifted in the end Sophie's hair even when it was short was still grey and served as a reminder of the past she had gone through.


Okay I tried to answer to the best that I could.

-Beth

I just watched Howl's Moving Castle last night and loved it. My mom happened to watch it with me and I she too had some questions, though I did not. The reasoning for this is that I had read the book and she did not. The book explains a lot of this stuff (except the war. This was NOT in the book. It was hinted). Anywho, your questions.

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1. OK, so what was the deal with Howl and Calcifer and their contract?

If I remember correctly, in the book, Howl was trying to catch a fire demon, but he wasn't strong enough magically, so it took his heart and they made some sort of deal. I could be wrong on that though... Either way, I understood it in the movie that he caught a fire demon, but he wasn't ready to control it yet, so they controlled each other.

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2. Why was Howl turning into the Blue Bird of Happiness(tm) and how was he out of danger after regaining his heart?

Along with Beth's answer, I think it's also one of his magical powers.

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3. How come earlier when Sophie became young again, her hair turned brown again, but later her hair stayed gray?

This happened in the book, also. It was the simple fact that the spell broke WAY before the end, but she subconsciously held onto it, thus keeping her hair silver as an effect.

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4. So who wanted the war and why was it being fought? It appeared that Sulliman was apparently the person running the show, and therefore it was her war, but as soon as she sees that Howl is not turning into a nasty-looking bird that makes her instantly decide to cancel it. Why would that have anything to do with a war at all? It's also implied that the Prince fellow in the end has some sort of say in the whole process, but it was very confusing.

Beth's answer explains a lot. When Sulliman saw that the Prince had returned to his normal form, that meant the war would be over because the prince is alive and since it was his father who started the war, he would tell the king to stop it.

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5. If Calcifer is no longer bound by contract, who is moving the flying castle in the end?

Go with Beth's answer. The power of love!

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6. They called Howl cowardly and vain, but he did not really show himself to be either except in one scene.

Example of Vanity: The hair dye scene. He was obsessed with having his hair blonde, when it was not, he was upset because he was "no longer beautiful and what was the point of living?" Also, just look at his jackets. By the end of the movie, he's wearing simple clothing.
Example of Cowardice: Basically how he runs from the Witch of the Waste and Sulliman.

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7. Howl is reputed to kill beautiful young women, then later in the story calls Sophie beautiful. Is she in danger?

Was def. a rumor. The book goes into more detail about this (it's quite funny actually). If he was going to kill her, he would have done it after the military officers scene or the first night because I think he knew the curse put on her and knew who she was.

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8. Where does the black pie slice of the dial go?

In the book, it goes to somewhere completely different. In the movie, I think it was sort of a time travel thing because at the end of the movie, Sophie went to Howl's childhood.

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9. If Howl doesn't want to have anything to do with war, what is he doing flying around fighting in it?

I got the impression he was sabatoging it because he really didn't like the idea of war.

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10. Was Sophie's curse ever "officially" lifted?

I def. believe it was lifted. The silver hair was a reminder to herself never to think of herself as ugly/boring/old and to do something for herself once in a while. It was also a side-effect to the amount of time it was on her (reference: the book).

In order to really understand the movie, I think you need to read the book (Howl's Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones). It explains SO much of what was going on. Trust me the book is a good read! Plus, there are more characters (if you remember the reference to the younger sister in the movie, she makes an appearance in the book) and more connections and less loose ends so to say (You felt bad for the prince at the end, didn't you?). Also, I think the movie was made more for those who had read the book than those who didn't. Though, this is a fantasy and the fun of fantasy is you don't have to always explain everything!

Hope that helped!

Later,
Pen1300

I'd like to add on to the deal with Calcifer and the contract between him and Howl.

Calcifer, as far as I understand it, was once a falling star. When falling stars fall to Earth, they die. But Calcifer was caught by young Howl. And Calcifer didn't want to die. So he made a deal with Howl.

I'm not exactly sure how it worked exactly...but Calcifer took Howl's heart and became a fire demon. I also don't know when the moving castle was made, but I'm damn sure Calcifer became important in helping Howl run away from the Witch of the Waste and the curse she put on Howl's head. At least...that's how it worked in the book.

If anyone wants to know, in the book, the curse the Witch put on Howl is actually a poem caled "Song" by John Donne. It's really nice!

Ciao!

Chitter-Box-Cat (more psycho than ever)

Okay, I just saw the movie recently, and I'm deciding to revive this wonderful thread, rather than make my own.

I think, since Calcifer comes back near the end, he is also helping move the flying castle. After all, he does come back and such...well, I think I'm going to read the book anyway, so I might spoil some things later. (ha!) But anyway, that's all I gotta say about it Calcifer. I like his character anyway. lol.

The movie was pretty good and man, Ano-chan, you ask a lot of questions! But I think they're pretty reasonable. I don't completely understand how the spell was being broken, and I'm sure in the book, they explain it way better. >.<

Oh! And about the legends and such. They're only legends right? Can't believe everything you hear about Howl.

Later days,
Rev

I've read the book, and I suggest you read "Song" by John Donne. The curse is thurough and much more interesting to see in the book. The story is also quite different.