A Raposa e a Menina

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.

Directed by Luc Jaquet, who previously - and most famously - bought us "March of the Penguins," here subsequently brings us "The Fox and The Child." The plot is quite slight, as you could describe it in one sentence: A young girl encounters a fox in the forests surrounding her home, and so tries to get closer to it. Of course, this one sentence plot is deceptively simple. By trying to get closer to the fox, the young girl wants to get literally close enough to the fox to touch, but also close enough to it for it to be her animal friend. But as well as that, the plot allows room for such subject matter as fox hunting, domesticity vs. nature, coming-of-age, and the folly of trying to tame forces beyond your control. The crisp, highly defined photography of the forest, the mountains and its wildlife inhabitants is absolutely astounding. Just utter jaw-dropping, breathtaking, knock-out beauty that can scarcely be believed. To merely describe the sights seen in this film would be an injustice. They must be seen to be believed. For any children that watch this, the film will delight them to no end. For adults, this is equally true. The fox of the title - or foxes, as there were numerous foxes used to portray just the one - is, without speaking or emoting in any human terms, quite a fantastic fox. (But not a Mister, as it's a female fox. Just, y'know, FYI.) But a problem that I DID have with the film is its narration, read by - in the English version - Kate Winslet. To me, the narration is far too story bookishly read, and a bit clunkily written, too. As a personal preference, I'd have rather the film had no narration at all, and just let the wonderful images speak for themselves. Or if not that, I wish the narration had at least been written a bit better. Other than that big flaw of the film, it's a joyous experience of a film that anyone can enjoy (up until a certain dark, morbid and tear jerking bit near the end, which needs to be there) and that if you can catch it, you should most certainly give it a go. =))

A must see for anyone who loves photography. stunning and breathtaking,leaves you in ore. seen it twice once in a cinema and now on DVD. it holds up well on DVD but on the big screen this was something else.

Took my two daughters to see this and they loved it, my oldest cried at the end.but she was the one who wanted to see it again tonight when she saw it at the video shop. its simple telling of a child's love for nature and in particular a fox is told well. in some ways it reminded me of the bear in its telling a story not documentary formate. which works for children very well. not being preached to is very important, you make your own mind up.

But the star of this film is the cinematographers, how did they do what they did. amazing just amazing.

I first saw this movie in a theater in France a year or so ago. It came and went with little fanfare, but I enjoyed it for the beauty of the landscape photography and the fascinating wildlife footage. (The story, while nice, is really incidental. If you actually thought about it, there is no way most of what happens could happen in real life.) I just saw it again tonight, here in the States, on DVD. Again, I gather it has very limited distribution. Blockbusters only had one copy of it, and I don't recall it ever playing in the art houses in Cleveland.

Seen on my TV, the photography is not as breathtaking, though it is still very beautiful. The wildlife footage is still fascinating. The story of the relationship between the 10-year old child and the fox is even less convincing the second time around, when you know where it's headed.

Still, as I said, the story is incidental. It's a beautiful film to watch, and if you like wildlife footage, you should find this fascinating.

--------------------------

I saw this movie again tonight, almost a decade after I first saw it in the theater. I still find it to be an often astoundingly beautiful film visually. The views of the animals and the landscape are just breathtaking. Not as breathtaking as in a theater, but still a joy to behold.

The child I still find aggravating. The music is good, though, and Kate Winslet does a wonderful job of reading the English narration, so I wouldn't turn off the sound.

I would try to ignore the child, though. While she is sometimes beautifully photographed, her character is the only disagreeable spot in this otherwise so very beautiful movie.

This would definitely be a good movie for children, by the way. It teaches a lesson that all humans should learn: wild animals are just that. No matter how cute they are, they need to stay in nature, and cannot be turned into pets.

This is a very beautiful and almost meditative film-there is hardly any dialogue in it, apart from the narration; and the scenery and music compliment each other perfectly. I didn't at first connect the red hair of the girl and the fox until it was pointed out to me by a friend (who also has red hair!) It is almost an old fashioned type of children's films, saying that children nowadays prefer animations like Shrek or Toy Story etc-but I feel that young people should be introduced more to the beauty and wonder of nature which this film certainly does. Maybe not the best ever film of its type but certainly an excellent and relaxing view for all ages -not just children.