Sophie is a hat maker in the shop her father left her. She is the oldest girl, conservative and a hard worker. You get the feeling she does not have too much fun. But a chance encounter with the Wizard Howl propels her life down an interesting roller coaster ride.
Howl has an enemy, the Witch of the Wastes. They dated, he dumped her, and she has coveted his heart every since. Her minions spotted Sophie in Howl’s company, and the Witch tracked her down and placed a curse on her. Now Sophie is an old woman, and unable to tell anyone that she has been cursed.
She knows her only hope is to find a powerful wizard to break the spell, so she sets off for the wastes in search of Howl.
It is an arduous journey made worse by her newfound age. Along the way she spots a stick that might make a good walking staff. However, it is the pole for an enchanted scarecrow that she names Turniphead. Turniphead repays her kindness by finding her a cane, and then finding her shelter. The shelter is Howl’s infamous moving castle.
Sophie finds it deserted by all but Calcifer, a powerful fire demon bound to the hearth. Calcifer is the power source for all in the castle. They make a pact; Sophie will try to free Calcifer from his servitude, and he will in turn break her curse.
When morning comes Sophie meets Markl, Howl’s young apprentice. She starts things off right with him by cooking a big breakfast. The castle is a wreck and when Howl arrives and asks who she is, she claims she is the cleaning lady, hired by Calcifer. Calcifer has to back her up, because she threatens to tell Howl about their pact.
So Howl lets it go, and asks Sophie what she has in her pocket. She finds a slip of paper and hands it over.
It was a curse, cast by the Witch of the Wastes. All that she did to Sophie was just to get that spell in place. Howl erases the scorch marks off the table with a pass of his hand, but the spell remains.
Sophie integrates herself into the house cleaning it from stem to stern. As she does her natural kindness wins over Markl, Calcifer and even Howl. Also, they pick up Turniphead again. He seems to be following Sophie.
Sophie learns much about Howl. His door opens on four places; Kingsberry, where Howl is the Wizard Pendragon, Porthaven on the sea, where Howl is the Great Wizard Jenkins. One opens out where ever the Castle is, and one labeled black, only Howl uses.
She learns that Howl is on the run. That is why his castle moves. Whenever there is a problem, he picks up and moves. She also learns he is vain and self centered, but also kind and light hearted. She also learns much about herself. Age has its compensations, and she learns to like herself as she is.
But trouble soon finds them. The country is going to war. Wizard Pendragon and Jenkins are both summoned to the palace to serve the country.
But Howl does not want to, because he fears Madame Suliman, his old mentor. So he sends Sophie, posing as his mother, instead, to tell the king he is a coward. He will follow in disguise to keep an eye on Sophie.
Sophie makes the long trek, keeping an eye out for Howl. Finally she thinks she spots him in the form of a funny old dog who follows her.
She also encounters the Witch of the Wastes, who has been summoned to the palace, finally, after fifty long years. Sophie asks her to take the spell off of her. The Witch, amused, informs her she can’t…she casts spells, not breaks them.
Then there is a glitch in her plans; her blob men palanquin bearers are dissolved by the palace wards and the obese Witch finds she has to climb the enormous staircase all on her own. She asks Sophie for help, to which Sophie replies she will happily help if she removes the spell. But it really is not in her bag of tricks, so the Witch has to labor along while Sophie carried Howl up the stairs.
It is a mark of Sophie’s goodness as a person that when she realizes the guards and servants are under orders not to help the Witch, she shouts encouragement to her. Not that it is appreciated.
Inside, the Witch selfishly claims the only chair, and the dog leads Sophie away. Exhausted, the Witch can mount no defense against Madame Suliman’s trap.
Sophie faces Suliman and delivers her message. From Suliman, she learns that Howl was her student, her last apprentice, and of great promise before he gave his heart to a fire demon. Now Suliman fears Howl is too powerful to be allowed to continue without a heart.
But Howl shows up to fulfill his oath bound obligation, and to rescue Sophie. Also escaping with them is the Witch of the Wastes, stripped of her magics and now her true age, and Madame Suliman’s errand dog, Hing. Howl swoops them all away on a flying contraption, and goes off to lead the pursuit away. Sophie pilots the craft back to the Castle, and crash lands it. Everyone, except the Castle, is fine.
Sophie now understands many things better. Calcifer has to be the fire demon, and he knows why he fears Suliman; the Witch is nothing but a fat ancient woman, vaguely senile. She undoubtedly plans the same for Howl. She also is beginning to understand that certain spells extract prices. When Howl transforms into a bird to fly, it becomes harder to become human the longer he is transformed.
Something that Sophie is not aware of is that her age is now a function of mood. The happier or more distracted from her own problems she is, the younger she looks.
And Howl wants her to be happy. Since he has had to abandon Pendragon and Jenkins, he reworks the castle, connecting it to a Hat Shop for Sophie, and to his old cottage in the wastes in a valley rich in flowers. He also creates a room just for her, and an extra bath.
Then the war is upon them. Howl is frequently gone, disrupting the enemy warships so they can’t drop bombs.
But Solomon is not done; she has minions looking for Howl, and a secret spy; Sophie’s mom. By putting certain things in her purse, she insures that Howl’s defenses are weakened. The Witch tosses the spy spell into Calcifer, and that weakens him.
So now Howl has to divert bombs from the shop, because Calcifer has all he can do to keep them cloaked.
Sophie begs Howl to abandon the shop, to run, but now that Howl has something to protect, Sophie, he is through running.
But the more magic he uses, the more bestial he becomes. So Sophie has to figure a way to make him abandon the shop.
She decides to remove Calcifer from the Castle.
So what will happen? Will it work? Will she be in time, or has Howl already lost too much of his humanity? And how will she keep her promise to Calcifer? How will she restore Howl’s heart?
This is a great movie. It is Japanese, so it helps with some of the logic of magic if you understand Japanese folklore, but this is not essential.
This is one of those rare movies that while intended for a child is intelligent enough to entertain their parents as well. The progress that Sophie makes in becoming a fully actualized person is very easy to see; it is written on her face. The younger Sophie looks the more progress she is making.
And what of Howl? Howl made his pact with Calcifer when he was a child. Emotionally, he still is a child. But something in Sophie wakes him to whole new possibilities. I think the key here is that Howl WANTS to grow up, so he can have an adult relationship with Sophie. So Sophie learns how not to be such an old woman, cautious and meek and hardworking with out any recreation, and Howl learns how to grow up, to be a man, to face his fears and bear his responsibilities.
This film is visually stunning, as good as or better than the best Disney. This is the highest praise I can give it. I have hit six stars, it is rated Most Helpful. And the story is almost as good. It is perhaps a little crowded; perhaps it could have supported an extra fifteen minutes to explain and expand things. But really, these ‘flaws’ have no real bearing on the overall rating. Five stars. This is a masterpiece.