Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 14 (violence, scary scenes, themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 12 | Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes and themes. Note: The film is in Japanese with subtitles. |
Children aged 12–14 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes and themes. |
Children aged 15 and over | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Tales from Earthsea |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Moderate animated violence |
Length: | 115 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Arren, the son of the King of Enlad, flees the palace after committing a most heinous crime. All around him the world is failing and two dragons fighting in the skies above bring with them the omen that the balance of the world is in danger of disintegrating.
Ged, the Archmage known as Sparrowhawk, is on a wandering quest to discover the cause of the peril when he meets with Arren in the desert two days walk from the city, Hort Town. The city is a disheartening place full of merchant traders, drug addicts and a thriving slave market. Through chivalrous efforts to save an orphan girl, Therru, from slavery, Arren meets her surrogate mother, Tenar. Meanwhile, the party is being pursued by the wizard, Cob and his minion, Hare. Arren himself has his own personal Shadow to contend with that haunts his dreams and waking moments alike. Cob’s desire for eternal life becomes a greater need when he can use Arren and destroy Sparrowhawk in the process.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Magic and sorcery, Child slavery, Separation from parental figures.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is no coarse language in this movie, although there are some abusive insults including:
Tales from Earthsea is a fantasy animation based loosely on Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series. It is a Japanese film with English subtitles and has a strong anime feel to it as a result.
The main messages from this movie are that courage, a belief in yourself, friendship and honour are important, and that good always triumphs over evil.
Values that parents may wish to reinforce with older children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with older children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, including:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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