Tales from Earthsea (PG-13)
ANN; Ghibli Wiki; GKIDS; IMDb; Nausicaa.net; Online Ghibli; Rotten Tomatoes; TV Tropes; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon; Google Play; Max; Vudu; YouTube
Caution: spoilers
This was released in 2006 in Japan, and 2010 in the U.S., but I didn't see it until 2024, during my summer of Ghibli. It's loosely based on the "Earthsea" novels of Ursula K. Le Guin, which I'm afraid I haven't read. (I have seen a previous TV adaptation, Legend of Earthsea, which I don't really remember.) I guess this movie bears little resemblance to the novels, but it's also inspired by the graphic novel "Shuna's Journey", by Hayao Miyazaki, one of the founders of Studio Ghibli. (He's also the father of Goro Miyazaki, the director of this film.) Glancing at Wikipedia's page about the graphic novel, it doesn't seem like the movie bears a ton of resemblance to that story, either. And the film got mixed reviews, which doesn't really surprise me. I thought it was okay, but not as good as most Ghibli films. And there were things that didn't really make a lot of sense to me, or that weren't adequately explained. Still, I did like it, and I'm glad to have seen it.
It begins with a ship sailing through a storm, when suddenly the sailors spot two dragons fighting in the sky. Then there's a scene with a king speaking with his council about troubles in the kingdom, and they receive word about the dragons, which seems to be a bad omen. Then the king goes off on his own to do some work, but is attacked and killed by his 17-year-old son, Prince Arren, who steals his father's sword and runs away.
Arren travels through the desert, and is attacked by wolves, but he's rescued by a mage (actually the Archmage) named Sparrowhawk. They begin traveling together, and come to a city, where Arren rescues a girl named Therru from slavers, led by a man named Hare. But she isn't appreciative, apparently because Arren had said that life had no value for him. Later, Hare and his men capture Arren to sell him into slavery, but he's again rescued by Sparrowhawk. The two of them go to stay with Sparrowhawk's friend, a woman named Tenar. Coincidentally, Therru has been living with Tenar since she took the girl in five years ago, after she was abused and abandoned by her parents. Therru isn't happy to see Arren again, and wants him to leave. But eventually she accepts him.
Hare works for an evil mage named Cob, who wants to live forever. It never becomes clear to me how he intends to do this, but apparently he's already extended his life quite a bit. And he wants to kill Sparrowhawk, because of an old grudge. So he has Hare kidnap Tenar, to use as bait. Cob personally abducts Arren, and tricks him into revealing his "true name", which allows him to control Arren and turn him against Sparrowhawk. I also got the impression that Cob was somehow responsible for Arren having killed the king, but I'm not really sure about that. Anyway... Therru tells Sparrowhawk that Tenar had been taken to Cob's castle, so he goes to rescue her, but gets captured himself. Therru later finds Arren and they rescue Sparrowhawk and Tenar.
Well, I feel like I've said far too much already, but I have left out some important details. I won't spoil any more of the plot, though there's not much left to spoil, anyway. It's not a bad fantasy story, but it's also not a really great one. I imagine the books are much better, and I'd really like to read them someday.