1.18.2010

The Fox and the Child (2007)

An altogether beautiful film about a little girl's relationship with a wild fox (and her relationship with, and understanding of, nature on a grander scale), Luc Jacquet's The Fox and the Child (Le renard et l'enfant) plays less like his previous March of the Penguins and more like a completely charming and beautiful fairy tale.

It's a simple film that has a bit more of a narrative structure than March, and is sort of a child's fantasy set in the real world, though that "real world" is mainly limited to the natural world of forests, meadows and caves.  TFATC is an elegant love story, and carries an impassioned environmental plea; there is also a plainly told and powerful moral at the end of the film, which would be easy for a child to understand.  However, because of the gorgeous cinematography, some amazing "how in the world did they capture that?" wildlife footage, and a sweet innocence in the tale, it is a film that will also appeal to adults.

Those who write this one off as sappy or overly sentimental are doing themselves a disservice - while on the surface the film may seem childish, it is in fact universal, filled with wide-eyed wonder, and contains a message we could all use as a reminder.

5 comments:

Niki Diamonds said...

Such a heart Joe. Is it selling itself as a kids film at all?

the coelacanth said...

not really. but i can see a lot of people steering clear based on the dvd cover art, which isn't to say it's misleading, but...well, you know how people are. i put it on my recommended shelf to maybe lend it a little credence. actually, wait...maybe that's not such a good idea...

Chandles said...

Do you ever read the cases for DVD's so completely (but hilariously) wrong? This one for me was 'Le Retard Enfant'. I want to leave that image untainted.

La Sporgenza said...

That's exactly what I thought it said! The Retard Kid!

Britarded said...

From the sleeve I thought this was No.9 in the Love Comes Softly series, remember? I was looking forward to it. Love finds a home was the greatest of all time.