METAPHORIN FILM

METAPHOR IN FILM• Metaphor is a term that refers to a figure of

speech in which a word or phrase that literally denotes one thing is used figuratively for something else, as a way of suggesting likeness or analogy between the two.

• eg ‘She's a pillar of the community’... a metaphor because she isn’t really a pillar

• eg ‘It's a jungle out there...’ where, I can’t see the jungle?

METAPHOR IN FILM• Metaphor is used by many film makers to influence

their audience on another subject like in the movies 'District 9,' an apartheid allegory (with aliens), and 'Metropolis‘ a bleak take on class and class relations.

ALLEGORY• Allegory is a form of extended metaphor, in which objects,

persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself.

• The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas such as charity, greed, or envy.

ALLEGORY

• A well-done film metaphor goes back to rule number 1 of good cinema — show, don’t tell

• So allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.

• Or the whole literal meaning of the story is a front for something else..... As I think is the case in

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE• Director/screenplay Hayao Myazaki, Studio Ghibli

• From a book of the same namewritten by Diana Wynne Jones

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE• A young girl named Sophie is turned into a 90 year-

old woman by the Witch of the Waste. She takes refuge in the moving castle that is owned by Howl. Howl and Sophie embark on enchanting adventures together... As I watched I realised the whole film seems to be a metaphor for a love story

THE CASTLE• The castle represents Howl’s life, it has different faces

and lots of baggage, it is heavy because of this, it moves around to keep hidden.... Like a man who presents false faces to the world and hides his real self

HOWL • It was said Howl, who is very good looking, liked to

suck the souls of young girls.... Metaphor for a player

SOPHIE MEETS HOWLHe rescues her from the unwantedattention of soldiers and then whisks her off her feet and they walk on air...... the feeling of falling in love

WITCH OF THE WASTE

• A witch who Howl once pursued , he thought ‘she was beautiful but discovered that she wasn’t’... An old girlfriend who is a bitch but still wants his heart

THE CURSE

• Sophie is discovered by the witch who................... belittles her and her shop, and curses her to be turned into an old woman... The old girlfriend finds her and makes fun of the way she looks and her life leaving her feeling self conscious and ugly

MARKL

• A small boy who lives in the castle... Howl’s inner child

CALCIFER

• The fire and heart of the castle and the power that drives it. He lets her live in the castle.... She has power over his heart like no-one else because he loves her

SOPHIE BEFRIENDS MARKL Sophie is the only 1 to make it inside the castle and

she finds a home and friends, ugly and old as she is..... She is in his heart he knows her and allows her to know him

SOPHIE CLEANS UP

The place is a mess but she puts it in order and cleans it out... She makes his life better- as with all women in men’s lives

SOPHIE’S AGE CHANGES

• Sophie starts to look younger like her real self as the film goes on... When she feels more secure she feels better about herself and her self opinion improves

THE WITCH AGESThe witch’s true age is revealed ... Her true character shows through, not beautiful at all

THE KING AND MADAME SULIMAN

Howl is summoned to report to the King’s castle to face Mme Suliman.... I think Howl is summoned to his parents, he tries to avoid them but goes with Sophie

THE RINGHowl gives Sophie a ring that always leads her home to the castle..... A wedding ring?

MOVING DAYHowl changes the castle making rooms for Sophie.... They move in together to a new home

WITCH GRABS CALCIFER• The witch figures out that Calcifer is Howl’s

heart and steals it for herself, she ‘just adores the hearts of young men’.... The old girlfriend and Howl have an affair.

CASTLE CRUMBLES• The affair breaks their home and life apart as

the castle splits in 2, staggers and crumbles...

THE DEPTHS

• Sophie and the dog end up alone in the depths... Depression and defeat result from the affair

SOPHIE SAVES HOWL

• When Sophie gently but firmly regains the heart and restores it to Howl they are reunited and the castle is rebuilt better than before, it can fly.... They love again and it’s better than ever

THE METAPHOR

• So Howl’s Moving Castle, the story of a girl cursed to become a 90 year old who takes up residence in a magician’s walking castle, is a metaphor for the ups and downs of an ordinary relationship

THE END

REFERENCES1. Handout for Language and Popular Culture (LING 057) University of

Pennsylvania H. Schiffman, Instructor Pop Culture, School of Arts & Sciences - University of Pennsylvania http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/popcult/handouts/metaphor/metaphor.html

2. Ellen Yu - Howl's Moving Castle Review and Analysis http://hbthingy.blogspot.com.au/2005/06/howls-moving-castle-review-and.html

3. Ransom Riggs - February 11, 2008 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/12161

4. University of Phoenix- online University http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/;

http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2011/10-famous-films-you-didnt-know-were-allegories/