If you think of Studio Ghibli films as lightweight, wholesome adventures, then Tales of Earthsea might come as a bit of a shock. Not that the film is exactly edgy, but compared to the usual Ghibli output, it’s pretty dark, with severed limbs, patricide, rape-threats and more.

Based on the series of books by Ursula K. le Guin (because fantasy writers always have to write series, it seems), the film was directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Ghibli main man Hayao, it’s an overlong, overly convoluted film in which very little actually happens (that, at least, but it firmly in the tradition of fantasy novels), but it looks pretty stunning, which is something.

The story – cobbled together from elements in various novels in the series – follows teenage Arren, who we first see murdering his father, the King of Enland, for reasons that are never explained. It’s hard to accept him as a hero after this, but that’s what he is set up to be, as – on the run – he meets the wizard Sparrowhawk, the pair travelling to the city of Hort Town, where Arren battles slavers who are trying to kidnap a young girl, Therru, and the pair end up at a farmhouse with the girl and Tenar, a woman who Sparrowhawk has an existing relationship with. For a while, all is pastoral peace and quiet, but evil magician Lord Cob is determined to capture Sparrowhawk and turn Arren against him, and the second half of the story deals with this conflict.

As mentioned, Arren is a pretty unsympathetic hero, especially as his opening act of murder is barely addressed or explained. This is a problem, as we are supposed to sympathise with his plight and his battle to free himself from the evil influence of Cob – but given his actions, being on the side of evil seems right for him. Sparrowhawk, on the other hand, is such a clichéd sub-Lord of the Rings wise old wizard (I have no idea how the character plays in the novels, but if they are like any of the other sub-Tolkein, Dungeons and Dragons overblown fantasy tat I’ve encountered, I suspect it’s a fairly accurate depiction) that he’s hard to take seriously.

The film is, admittedly, gorgeous. There are some truly stunning visuals here – though you could argue that the film more closely resemble what we generally think of as anime, rather than the Ghibli style. Miyazaki does his best to keep the drama flowing – but story wise, the film is a bit of a mess, and often grinds to a halt. It feels like the middle episode of a series, and the film is about thirty minutes too long (a common problem with Ghibli films, it has to be said).

In the end, Tales from Earthsea is an ambitious effort thatseems to have fallen between two stools, appealing neither to the fantasy fiction crowd (le Guin herself was not exactly full of praise for the film) nor more general audiences. It feels like a good try – but ultimately, an unsuccessful one.

DAVID FLINT

BUY IT NOW (UK)