Monday 14 August, 2006

Earthsea disappointment

As Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books have always been one of my favourite fantasy books, I was thrilled when I heard my favourite anime studio Studio Ghibli was going to make an adaptation of it. I was slightly disappointed to hear that it was going to be directed by Hayao Miyazaki’s son Goro - who has never directed a film in his life - instead of him, but I was still optimistic about the project. I understood that it would be a very heavy adaptation and that most of the original story was probably not going to be there, but Earthsea is such a wonderful world and has such a beautiful mythology that would surely be used in the film.

I followed the film’s release in Japan, and read the reviews, feeling slightly nervous but still looking forward to it. But after I read Le Guin’s own response to seeing the film I think I will need to lower my expectations even more… She had trusted Hayao Miyazaki to make the film and has been disappointed – the gentle moral finesse without preaching that she has in her books, the same one that I’ve also always loved in Hayao Miyazaki’s films seems to have escaped Goro Miyazaki.

Shame.

Posted by kolibri at 14 August 12:01, 2006
Comments
# 1 - Outi (on August 14, 2006 11:57 PM):

I can only say this: DAMNIT! :( I was so excited when I heard there was going to be a movie (and by Hayo Miyazaki, too!) but the excitement's gone now. *sigh*


# 2 - Dragon (on August 15, 2006 10:00 AM):

It is Goro's first movie, so while it all sounds disappointing, I am willing to give him a benefit of doubt. We shall see if he is worthy successor to Miyazaki-sensei...


# 3 - kolibri [TypeKey Profile Page] (on August 15, 2006 10:12 AM):

The thing is, Hayao is not Miyazaki-sensei for Goro - the pair have never had a good relationship... Goro effectively grew without a father as Hayao was always working. There's a story Goro tells how as a child he would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and go an see his dad sleeping just to make sure he really existed. And he's never wanted to follow his father's footsteps until he was pressured into it by Toshio Suzuki (one of Ghibli's producers), against Hayao's wishes.

For sure, I'll give him a chance... but I'm not setting my hopes up.


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