The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL Published: 2 August 2007
Animated tale of our times
TALES FROM EARTHSEA
Directed by Goro Miyazaki
Certificate PG
STAND by for a spectacular animated holiday treat, with the most incredible artistic effects I’ve seen in a while.
This extraordinary fable about the enduring battle between good and evil is the debut by Japanese director Goro Miyazaki, who up to now was a museum designer. Their loss is our considerable gain.
The allegory resonates like a giant bell. The world is losing its balance. Crops are withering and livestock falling ill. Some unknown force is out to destroy the planet.
The wizard Sparrowhawk (voiced by Timothy Dalton) sets out on an odyssey to locate the source of evil, accompanied by a young prince (Matt Levin) who is fighting his own inner demons.
They finally face an old enemy, Lord Cob (Willem Dafoe), a venomous figure with waist-length black hair and eye-shadow, but speaks in a deep growl which is decidedly unsettling.
The film is based on the Earthsea books by Ursula Le Guin, and Goro and his team have done her proud.