Somber.
That’s the only single word for Tales for Earthsea I can think of. Give me two and they’d be “somber” and “plodding.” Without even a comprehensible story to give events purpose, Tales from Earthsea simply grinds away at the viewer, offering up nothing in return for the punishment.
Writer Ursula K. Le Guin has been stingy with the movie rights to her novels and it was a rare honor that master animator Hayao Miyazaki was the first person granted such rights to her Earthsea novels. Unfortunately, Hayao Miyazaki was unable to find a hole in his schedule for the effort, and eventually the task of adapting and directing fell to his son, Gorō Miyazaki, and it was released in Japan in 2006.
The result is only very loosely based on the first four books of Le Guin’s Earthsea series, and probably won’t be any more comprehensible to fans than to someone who’s never heard of them. The story takes place in a land called Earthsea, where magic has mysteriously stopped working and the livestock and crops are falling sick. Some dragons fight and this is apparently unheard of, and then a king is killed in a regicide that is also a patricide.
Arren (Matt Levin) is a young boy with a troubled soul who crosses paths with Sparrowhawk (Timothy Dalton), a wizard who still has powers. Sparrowhawk seems to know that Arren has great things ahead of him but is casual in his protection, allowing a slaver (voiced by Cheech Marin) to take Arren hostage.
Sparrowhawk and Arren later end up staying on the farm of Tenar (Mariska Hargitay) and Therru (Blaire Restaneo), where they all quickly come to the attention of Cob. Cob (Willem Dafoe) is an evil wizard with the looks of Marilyn Manson, and he intends to do bad things. Bad things to Earthsea, bad things to Arren, and bad things to Sparrowhawk. It is only a bonus that he’ll also get to do bad things to Tenar and Therru.
Why all of these things are happening is never made particularly clear. One could be generous and blame it on the translation dubbed over the original Japanese dialog, but Pixar has done such a great job with dubbing and translation over the years that it seems unlikely. It also doesn’t help that most of the time the characters are whispering and very difficult to hear.
The movie is almost entirely devoid of any high spirit, being one downer of a scene after another. This might be forgivable but it also lacks any imaginative visual flair, mostly depicting static, flat country scenes through which the characters slowly walk while not saying much. It is only at the end that some interesting happens, and visual and story elements finally creep on screen—but by then it is far too late to care.
Studio Ghibli enthusiasts may want to check out Tales from Earthsea just from a completist urge, but be aware that this is almost entirely a movie that won’t work for younger children. The first 80 minutes will be extremely boring (several families left the screening I attended and they got in for free) and then the last 30 minutes might very well be too intense and scary; after so much pastoral calm, one scene of graphic violence will particularly startling and upsetting for young viewers.
Since Tales from Earthsea is only getting a very limited release and it seems unlikely that there’ll be a public clamor for a wider one, it is perhaps best that most reading this will not even have the chance to be disappointed in a Studio Ghibli movie.
- Tales from Earthsea is a Walt Disney Pictures release
- Limited release on Friday, August 13
- Directed by Gorō Miyazaki
- Screenplay by Gorō Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa
- Starring (English dub) Timothy Dalton, Willem Dafoe, Matt Levin, Mariska Hargitay, Blaire Restaneo, Cheech Marin
- Rated PG-13 for some violent images.
- Alex Rating: 3 out of 10
