"Howl's Moving Castle" can be said to be a relatively niche one of Miyazaki's grandfather's cartoons, inferior to the famous "Spirited Away", "My Neighbor Totoro" and so on. It is adapted from the first part of the "Howl Trilogy" by British female writer Diana. Many British fairy tales are actually very suitable for adults, such as "Harry Potter" is a good example. I believe there are many friends who grew up with little Harry.

Talking about "Howl's Moving Castle", some people may be confused when watching it for the first time. Grandpa Gong deleted a lot of plots, so the cause and effect in many places is not explained in such detail. It was only after watching the animation several times and the original work that I fully understood the story. But even when they are confused, the love between Hal and Sophie can easily hit the audience at once. After all, "love at first sight" + "love grows over time" + "adversity and trouble" + "reunion after a long absence", It's like the characters of Guo Fu and Xiao Longnu are integrated into Sophie's body. No woman can refuse her. Grandpa Gong is so good at capturing women's hearts. If Mr. Jin had written like this, there would probably not be any exciting debate among Jin fans over whether Yang Guo loves Guo Fu or Xiao Longnu.

When I rewatched it recently, I inexplicably saw the shadow of Joker Xue in Sophie who turned into a little old lady, a strange overlap. If you think about it carefully, they are indeed very similar.

Joker Xue once rarely revealed his true feelings on a variety show, saying that his heart is too old and it is difficult to be moved emotionally. He really wants to meet a girl who can stir up waves in his heart.

A vivid interpretation of "Heart is like a dry well".

Later I heard that he finally got back together with his ex-wife and went to visit her grave together. At that time, some netizens commented: This woman is obviously after money. When she is not popular, she is invisible, but when she is popular, she comes back to get back together. But I feel that maybe he finally found the person who can make his heart waver.

Cancers are very nostalgic. An old photo, an old scenery, or an old letter can make them think about it for a long time. What's more, he was an old friend whom he loved deeply.

So I don’t really read Joker Xue’s jokes, I only listen to his songs. When he tried his best to amuse everyone, I felt sad, like watching a Stephen Chow movie, crying while laughing; when he sang, he felt like himself. The imagery of those lyrics is so strong, you seem to be able to see with your own eyes a stubborn and tough-tongued man, with a cold face, saying it doesn't matter, refusing to show any nostalgia in front of his lover, but actually he cares to death in his heart. So there is "Actor", there is "Have You", and there is "Half".

It seems that the term "heart like a dry well" is not limited to a certain age group. It can be seen in the eyes of 30-year-old Xue Zhiqian, and it can also be seen in the eyes of 18-year-old Sophie.

It was supposed to be the pink girlhood full of fantasy. Sophie, who came from a wealthy family and looked pretty, sat quietly in front of the window of the small bedroom all day long, sewing beautiful hats. Dad sacrificed himself for the coat shop he left behind. The train outside the window rushes past day after day, and the girl inside the window goes on and on year after year. Brown hair, gray apron, life in black and white, only the hat is in color, so she said something to the hat.

Until one day, the girl, who was quiet to her core, felt that such a life seemed a bit monotonous. So she rarely dressed up in front of the mirror, preparing to go see her sister who worked in a cake shop. At the end of the dressing up, he pulled off the brim of his hat in frustration and covered his face.

A girl who is beautiful but unaware of herself, a beautiful girl who has too low self-esteem.

In order to express this, Sophie has three similar actions:

The first time was after meeting Howl, her sister was worried that Howl would stare at her and eventually eat her. her heart. Sophie laughed at herself: It doesn't matter, Howl only eats the hearts of beautiful women.

(In the story, there is a rumor circulating in the small town that the wizard Hal loves to eat the hearts of young girls, so everyone avoids him.)

The second time was in Sol After Fei was cursed to become an old lady, she moved into the moving castle that looked majestic from the outside. Unexpectedly, the interior of the castle was worse than a doghouse, with stains and reptiles all over the floor. Hal, who was extremely lazy, actually said: "Don't get rid of the spiders, they can eat flies.

"(This paragraph was deleted in the animation)

So Sophie started cleaning for several days. Unexpectedly, she put the wrong hair dye on Howl, causing Howl to lose his beautiful blond hair. He had a childish tantrum, collapsed on the chair, green mucus leaked from his whole body in revenge, and muttered: "It's all over, not beautiful anymore, even if I live, it's meaningless. Sophie, who had the face of an old lady at that time, became very angry and vented loudly: "You can do whatever you want, you know I have never been beautiful!" ”

The third time was before the war, Hal gave Sophie an unexpected gift: as soon as the portal of the Moving Castle opened, the scenery that broke into Sophie’s eyes was too shocking, and a whole The endless green lawn, the dripping blue sky, the small bell-shaped flowers swaying in the breeze, and the clear lake reflecting the cotton candy-like clouds came into her eyes. , melted into her heart, and finally a secret joy bloomed on her face. She completely forgot that she was an old man and ran to the lake excitedly. When she turned around, her eyes were filled with gratitude and joy: " Hal, thank you! ”

She naturally likes this place, because this is the place where they first met (as will be explained later, this is a foreshadowing), and it is also the most precious piece of pure land in his little world. Hal held Sophie's hand and gently crossed the creeks, pointing to the old cabin not far away and said: "That was the house of my childhood. I spent several hot summers there alone. It was My secret base. But if it’s you, Sophie, you can use it however you want. And if you pick the flowers in this garden, you should be able to open a flower shop. If it were you, Sophie, you would definitely be able to run it very well. ”

Sophie could vaguely feel that he was arranging the funeral arrangements, and that if he could not come back, he would ensure her stability for the rest of her life. But she didn’t want him not to come back, she just wanted to be by her side. Life and death and ***, so she said: "Hal, let me help, okay? Although I can only do some cleaning work, although I am not beautiful either. "

"Nonsense, Sophie is very beautiful! ”

But after Hal finished these words, Sophie turned into the little rickety old lady again, and replied calmly: “There are some advantages to being old, and you can lose things.” Something is missing. ”

(Sophie’s image in the play will switch between an old lady and a young girl from time to time)

If you look at Grandpa Gong’s cartoons, many viewers will think that Sophie is an ordinary-looking little girl (but even if Grandpa Gong set up these scenes, I still can’t believe it, after all, the Sophie drawn is so cute and cute)

In fact, in the original work, The three sisters in the clothing store are all very beautiful, but their personalities are very different. The two sisters are both very confident and adventurous types, but Sophie, as the eldest, believes that sooner or later she will inherit the clothing store, and she doesn't hate it. Although she didn’t like making hats very much. She was calm, responsible, and gentle. At the same time, she also had low self-esteem. These words she said actually reflected her mood at that time, and she thought that she was like a dry well in her life.

At the beginning, I was also a little confused by Grandpa Gong. I didn’t understand why Sophie would occasionally change back to a girl since she had been cast by the Witch of the Wasteland. Only then did she realize that whenever she appeared as a girl, it was when she revealed her love intentionally or unintentionally:

For example, Sophie, who fell into a deep sleep, must have looked like Howl in her dreams at this time. Every time Hal came back from the battlefield late at night, he would raise the curtain and watch her quietly for a while. The first time he saw her as an uninvited guest in the castle, he knew that this little old lady was actually the little girl he had rescued not long ago. That's why he pretended not to know anything and let her do whatever she wanted.

For example, when Sophie disguised herself as her mother to see the great wizard Saliman for Hal, Saliman threatened: "Ha. Er's power is so strong because he has a deal with the devil. If he continues like this, he will lose his mind sooner or later. As my close disciple, I can help him resolve this transaction. But if Hal doesn't agree to join the army and fight for the country, I can only take back all the magic in him. "

When Sophie heard this, she stood up impulsively and refuted the authority in front of her: "I finally know why Hal always refuses to come here. This is very strange. What kind of charity is this? Although Hal is willful and timid, he is very real. I believe in him and he will not become a devil.

"Sophie spoke loudly and sincerely, her face changing from wrinkled to a girl with shining eyes. Even Saliman smiled softly after hearing this: "Old man, you are in love with your son. ? ”

Such a direct confrontation naturally required a fierce battle. Hal unexpectedly appeared and took her away, leaving behind the girly hat. Salaman played with the hat meaningfully. Said: "Mom is really young. ”

Up to this point, Sophie’s face was still in a state of turning around. Although she gradually developed a deep love for Hal, she did not dare to show it boldly, and was more cautious. I secretly like it.

In fact, Grandpa Gong’s adaptation is much better than the original work. For example, the skywalking scene at the beginning is just a chat with Hal in the original work. It didn't work, it seemed a bit frivolous. In the animation, the people who chatted with Sophie became two soldiers. Hal appeared in time and hugged Sophie's waist, becoming the one who asked Brother Bing to chat with him but failed.

In order to avoid being hunted by the Witch of the Wasteland behind him, he flew into the sky with her in his arms, and took a walk in the air that was extremely exciting to girls. A Douban master joked about this scene: How to make a woman fall in love with a man instantly? Take her to heaven and go to a very high place (eighteen forbidden days)

No matter which heaven she ascends to, listen to the brisk background music "Walking in the Sky" and watch the most handsome Gong Grandpa in the history of animation. The male protagonist, voiced by the Japanese male idol Kimura Takuya, said softly: "Yes, that's it, don't be afraid. Awesome! ”

It’s really hard not to make people’s hearts beat. (Why do you think the lines are also very forbidden)

My heart is already so excited when we meet for the first time, and Grandpa Gong still wants to challenge Romantic to the extreme, meticulously crafted, using all kinds of small daily details to deepen the relationship between the two: when they first met in the castle, he cooked a sumptuous breakfast for the little old lady after not cooking for a long time. Her hands are like the most delicate ceramic works of art, which should not be stained by fireworks. However, her posture is elegant, her cooking skills are superb, and her movements are so seductive that even making a bacon omelette seems to seduce people (I suddenly want to eat bacon omelette) .

When I grabbed the spatula, the hands that looked like works of art covered those old hands. Although the age difference could be seen in the two hands alone, I could still feel an electric current coming from the picture. It came out;

She washed all the dirty clothes in the castle, followed the Scarecrow and the little apprentice to hang the clothes on the big grass beside the Sea of ??Stars Lake, and after working hard for a long time, she sat by the lake and stared at it all afternoon. For the first time, she felt so calm and peaceful in her heart, even as a cleaning lady, she felt happy;

She had seen him in his most childish state, summoning dark magic for a hair. The castle made chickens and dogs fly to heaven, and covered herself with mucus. She ran into the dark rain and cried loudly. After venting her anger, she returned to the castle and dragged him upstairs to wash himself, accidentally pulling off his bath towel in the process. She rolled her eyes, and for a moment she calmed down as if she hadn't seen her. She continued dragging him away and threw him into the bathtub;

He had also seen her at her oldest appearance, but he still felt that She felt at ease as long as she was by his side. When he appeared in front of Wizard Saliman, she wondered: "You can appear here yourself, why do you need me to come in your place? He grabbed her hand, stood behind him and took her to the sky again, holding up the entire sky for her, and said with a smile: "Because I know Sophie is here, I dare to come here." ”

Because I knew Sophie was here, I had the courage; because I knew Sophie’s home was in this war-torn town, I came up with the belief to protect my family, and I Knowing that he could no longer escape, Hal finally went to the battlefield, and Sophie finally turned into a girl throughout the whole process. Perhaps the bombs flying around could no longer tolerate her thoughts. To bury her love.

And she finally discovered the secret of Hal's childhood in this sea: when he was young, in order to save a shooting star, he gave his heart to it. It survived in the form of a fire demon and gave him supreme magic. He was now invincible, but also had no intention. Before falling into the future, Sophie shouted to the childhood Howl: "Wait for me." , waiting for me in the future. "

When I went back, my tears flowed one after another, and I couldn't stop them. They floated wantonly in the dark time tunnel. They were not the tears of cowardice, but the tears after understanding everything. Feeling guilty and distressed.

I think she should be blaming herself, blaming herself for having low self-esteem and being cowardly for so many years, leaving Hal to face the war and loneliness alone.

But everything is actually destined. Many years later, when the two met for the first time, they took a walk in the air. This walk in the air made the Witch of the Wasteland jealous. A little girl cast a ridiculous aging curse.

(In the original book, the Witch of the Wasteland once had a conversation with Howl. If you just watch the animation, you will definitely think that Hal is very heavy-handed... but the Witch of the Wasteland in the original book is really pretty. .......It’s Grandpa Gong’s heavy words)

Her original intention was to make Hal never look down on Sophie again. But he did not expect that if Sophie had not aged, she would not have run away from home to avoid worrying about her family, and she would not have had the courage to stay in Howl's castle to find a place to stay. After the two took a stroll, they never met again.

As Sophie gets older, she has underestimated a lot of things, and her personality has become more lovely, optimistic, positive, open-minded and humorous, and she has some golden quotes from time to time. For example, in the scene where Hal dyed his hair the wrong color and lost his temper and collapsed, the apprentice looked worriedly at the corpse-like master and asked Sophie: "Is he dead?"

The one who just wiped away his tears Sophie smiled: "He's not dead. No one has died because of losing his temper. Come and help him and clean him up."

This emotional regulator is really a hot one. Where is the old lady!

Perhaps she felt that Hal couldn’t see that she was a little girl anyway, so she boldly did all kinds of things she wanted to do for him: laundry, shopping for groceries, cooking, educating young apprentices... Oh , and that unexpected bath. It's almost like they used their mother's identity to live together with rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. It's no wonder that Saliman said that they were in love.

This love is wonderful and profound: the ordinary life after the ultimate romance, the persistence after knowing the roots. He became brave because he loved her, and she became young because she loved him. Both people have become better selves and a better whole because of love.

Finally, Grandpa Gong’s cartoon must have a happy ending. Sophie puts the heart that turned into a fire demon back into Howl’s chest. That heart was still in a childlike state, warm, lying in the palm of her hand, like a newly hatched bird. She carefully put it back and watched with concern as Hal slowly woke up. As soon as he opened his eyes, she threw herself into his arms, so happy that she couldn't help herself: "Great, you're alive. Hal, I love you!"

Hal hugged back The little woman in his arms stroked her meteor-like silver hair, adapting to the heavy feeling of a body with a heart again.

Well, of course my heart is very heavy, because it contains so much love, so much past, and the whole of you.

Text: Ye Man

Pictures: from the Internet

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