La niña y el zorrito

The very first image of the movie shows a mountain ridge in early morning autumn mist, and my thought was: "This is almost too beautiful." And it goes on like this: Images of landscape and animals that look like a series of romantic paintings, each of them perfect in every detail. Even the girl's room, her father's car - everything is nostalgic, romantic, beautiful. This could seem outdated and escapistic, but it fits a story that is itself of silent beauty, happening on the border between life and fairy tale, between Dian Fossey and Le Petit Prince. I enjoyed every minute of it. The extreme parsimony of the movie, having a simple, slow story, just one actor and hardly any special effects, exerted a strong magic. I therefore find it deplorable that this parsimony is given up in the last minutes, when suddenly two additional actors (the girl as a grown-up woman, and her son) are introduced. Another shortcoming is the music, which is often intrusive, Hollywood-like, and sometimes inappropriate: I couldn't bring an English pop-song together with French mountain glory. I went to the movie together with my two small daughters, but I recommend it to adults as well, given that they appreciate this kind of movie. Obviously, not everybody does.

From the filmmakers who brought us The March of the Penguins, I guess that came with plenty of expectations for The Fox and the Child. From the harsh winters of the South Pole to the lush wilderness in France, the narrative now becomes part documentary and part fairy tale, which tells of the friendship between the two titular characters, Renard the fox and its friendship with the child who christened it, played by Bertille Noel-Beuneau.

The story's frankly quite simple, and at times this movie would have looked like the many Japanese movies which children-miscellaneous animals striking a friendship after the development of trust, and how they go about hanging around each other, dealing with respective adversaries and the likes. Here, the child meets the elegant fox near her home up in the mountains, which provide for plenty of beautiful picture-postcard perfect shots that a cinematographer will have to go into overdrive to capture.

But while we indulge in wistful scenery, the characters don't get to establish that level of trust from the onset, and we have to wait a few seasons to past, and 45 minutes into the film, before they find a leveler in food. The child persistently attempts at striking a bond with the objective of taming the creature for her own amusement, but the fox, well, as other notions of course. While I thought the narrative was pretty weak, unlike March of the Penguins which has that human narrative interpretation of what's happening on screen, what excelled here were the documentary elements of the movie, tracing the life and times of the fox as both a predator, and a prey.

Between the two, more tension and drama was given to the latter, especially when dealing with traditional foes like wolves, and granted, those sequences were fairly intense especially when the child got embroiled in it. Otherwise, it was plain sailing and quite a bore as the two of them go about their playing with each other, in shots that you know have undergone some movie magic editing. There were surprisingly dark moments in the movie that weren't really quite suitable for children, as those in the same hall attested to it by bawling their eyes out suddenly, so parents, you might want to take note and not let your toddler disturb the rest of the movie goers.

As a film, I would've preferred this to be a complete documentary ala The March of the Penguins, but I guess the way it was resented, probably had the objective of warning us not to meddle with nature, and that some things are just not meant to be, and should stay as such. Decent movie that leaned on the strength of the chemistry between Bertille Noel- Bruneau, and the multiple foxes that played Renard.

This movie gave me a magnificent end for winter vacations... A real visual poem, and a simple, fascinating story with a so meaningful message that left me with happy, copious tears: the friendship between a little girl and a fox from the forest. A beautiful, timeless fable concerning the value of friendship, love... and the risk of confusing these feelings with the selfish possession of friends or loved ones, because, as the narrator says: "I understood that I wouldn't retain it if I bound it to me". It's just great: the story, the photography, the music, the characters... I remembered so many moments of my childhood through the little girl that opened her innocent eyes to wilderness and its fascinating world, and I wept happily for those times I tried to retain somebody to me, and finally I had to let him/her go. It makes you smile, weep, think, and grow. A 20/10 to French cinema for this sweet masterwork.

See it, admire it, make it yours... It will become one of your favorites.

In the French countryside, a beautiful red-headed girl spies a fox. Its love at first glance. Thereafter, the young lass uses much of her free time looking through the meadows and woods for her new friend. At one point, the young girl breaks a leg and must stay indoors for quite a spell. Her parents bring her books on foxes, which she devours. Soon, she is back outside, after the winter has passed. Meanwhile, the fox has had a scary run-in with a wild cat but made it to a hole, exhausted but alive. She also finds her mate and delivers two young foxes. Through some instinctive miracle, the fox does let the young girl pet her from time to time. Also, when a large bird of prey decides on a young fox meal, the girl is there to cover the pup with her body until the danger has passed. Will the girl and her fox remain friends forever? This is a stunningly beautiful film, with superb photography. Animal lovers will rejoice at seeing the world through a fox's eyes and admire the little girl's avid interest in the natural world near her home. Also, Kate Winslet's English narration is quite wonderful, too. But, alas, the scary moments are very real, for nature is often cruel. This will upset younger children and sensitive viewers, who love creatures but hate the harsh eat-or-be-eaten world. This reviewer, for example, couldn't finish the film, for there were too many "close calls" for the fox and her family. But, if you are the type who can just celebrate the life of animals, no matter what the results, this is probably a film you don't want to overlook.

I can see from some of the reviews here that many people don't like things that don't fall easily into a particular category or genre. To me, The Fox & the Child was part folk-tale, part nature documentary, part morality tale.

From the start, I revelled in the beautiful photography of beautiful landscapes. Lighting, set design, and composition create a folksy/fantasy feel that should be a bit of a give-away to those who think that the film's story is 'unlikely'. The animal shots, while portraying realistic animal behaviour, also have a quality that tells us that we are watching a celebration of the beauty of nature, rather than a scientific treatise on the flora and fauna of Europe.

The icing on the cake for me was that the story has a look at the difficult relationship between Man and Nature. The child learns that wild animals are not pets, and ends the year wiser than she started it.

I was going to give The Fox & the Child an '8', but felt compelled to subtract a whole point for that dreadful little song that is up there with Disney's "It's a Small World" for burrowing its way into your brain and refusing to leave.