JAPAN: Following in the footsteps of his famous father, Goro Miyazaki makes his directorial debut with the Japanese sci-fi animation film, "Earthsea"

A frustrated young prince stabs his father to death. The theme of father-son rivalry in the shocking opening scenes of "Gedo Senki", the latest animated film from Japan's world-renowned Studio Ghibli, is not without some personal resonance for the film's neophyte director, Goro Miyazaki. As the eldest son of Hayao Miyazaki, Japan's most famous animator and the creator of the Academy Award-winning movie "Spirited Away", Miyazaki is struggling make a mark of his own. The 39-year-old Miyazaki hadn't had any experience working in the animated film industry until he was named director of the film by Ghibli president and producer Toshio Suzuki last year. Though he has been interested in animation since a childhood, he until then had worked as a landscape planner to avoid to be compared with his great father. But he decided to make a movie with his own hands. "I don't feel pressured at least while making this film. Because I am a mere challenger. If it doesn't work, then I just accept the fact that I am not good enough to direct the movie." The 39-year-old Miyazaki told reuters in an interview at Ghibli headquarters in western Tokyo. For his directorial debut he tackled an internationally beloved fantasy series, the "Earthsea" books by U.S. author Ursula K. Le Guin, whose previous dramatisations have been panned by fans and the author alike. His father fiercely opposed the plan for Goro to direct "Gedo Senki", which translates as "Tales from Earthsea" in English. What followed were ten months of hard work, during which he neither asked for -- nor received -- advice from his father. He also had to win over the Ghibli staff, some of whom sneered that he had only landed the job because he was Miyazaki's son. "I am his son but by directing this movie I've also become a sort of his rival even though mine and his products may far-differ in quality. It is quite understandable for a creator like him to try to eliminate a potential would-be rival." said Miyazaki referring to his father's persistent denial of his direction saying as "profane the animation". However he also said there were definitely fatherly feelings involved as well because his father knows better than anyone how hard it is to direct animation and didn't really want him to take the same path. The movie, based loosely on the third and fourth books of Le Guin's six-book series, centres on Arren, the troubled prince. He meets up with Ged, a wizard who is searching for the source of a blight in the world that is causing all magic to fail. Critics and viewers are divided on the result, with some praising Goro for his return to a more basic style. Others say the film lacks the whimsy of previous Ghibli films such as "Spirited Away", which won a Best Animation Oscar in 2003. "I think this movie is inferior to those of his father's in quality and in profoundness of the story. He needs to work harder to catch up with his father." said 27-year-old company employee Kanako Seki who recently watched the movie at Tokyo's downtown theatre. "Apparently the mood of the movie is quite different from any other former movies from Studio Ghibli. I like it." said another moviegoer 21-year-old apprentice cook Yasunori Sakurai. Author Le Guin also had mixed feelings, dominated by disappointment. "Much of it was beautiful," she said by e-mail from her home in Oregon, where she saw the movie at a private screening. But she was dismayed at the numerous plot changes, saying her stories had been replaced by "an entirely different plot of considerably less coherence and interest. Of course a movie shouldn't even try to follow a novel exactly -- they're different arts. But a novelist may fairly expect a certain fidelity to the characters and general story in a film named for books that have been in print for 40 years." Miyazaki said many changes -- including Arren's stabbing of his father -- were made to create a character appealing to Japanese young people, many of whom he said want a reason to "best" their fathers and are frustrated because they cannot. It is a feeling he said he shares to an extent. "Japanese young people can't relate to an old story any more in which a boy travels only to fight the evil for bringing peace back or to search for incredible treasures. Rather, I thought it would be better to change some plots to reflect characters of young people in Japan and to be widely accepted by them." he said. The gamble appears to have paid off for now. Japanese cinema Internet pages show "Gedo Senki" topping charts for viewer numbers since its July 29 release, beating out Walt Disney Co.'s "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest". Perhaps more importantly for him, his father also praised the film's "honest" approach. It is set to be shown in more than 50 countries, although contract issues will delay the U.S. release.

ITN Source | August 24, 2006

Tags:. .disappointment. .praising. .praised. .panned. .eliminate