The animated film "Wolf Walker" was released on July 3, this movie is not small, the main creator is the famous Irish animation studio cartoon salon that once produced the word-of-mouth animation "Song of the Sea", in the past year, "Wolf Walker" won 37 international awards and 110 nominations, if these titles can not impress you, "WolfWalker" story and style of the unique charm, will definitely make you realize the incredible place of animation again - the colorful lines, It will be magically integrated into the artist's pen, which makes people linger. Therefore, this unique summer work is recommended for everyone to watch.
The film is the last part of the "Irish FolkTale Trilogy", the first two are "The Secret of the Book of Kells" and "Song of the Sea", which tells the story of the little girl Robin who enters the forest alone to find the wolf in order to prove herself to the hunter's father, but meets The girl Miba who can transform into a wolf in the forest, and the two then work together to save the forest. The story is very simple, but the core is not simple, a theme of harmony between a person and nature, but the process is very enjoyable.
Cartoon Salon for "Wolf Walker", just like Ghibli to "Spirited Away", Pixar for "Dream Quest", not only a well-known golden sign, but also a strong style and label brand, and all of this has been transformed into the charm of the work from the inside out.
In terms of painting style, in the era of 3D digital technology, seeing hand-painted animations such as "Wolfwalker" makes people have a long-lost sense of intimacy. The biggest feature of the film is its dreamlike hand-drawn images, the composition pays attention to symmetry, the tone is like a mural, the picture is full of a large number of geometric figures or traditional symbols, and the visual style also integrates a variety of painting techniques such as ukiyo-e, brushwork, ink painting, etc. It is no exaggeration to say that each frame of it is a beautiful work of art, which is very pleasing to the eye. This style of painting inherits the rich color layers of the "Secret of the Book of Kells" and "Song of the Sea", as if it is a review of the Irish art style.
Director Tom Moore once again used color and styling to create his own unique label in "Wolfwalker", and the film's other director, Rose Stewart, from Laika Studios in "Ghost Mother" and "Psychic Boy Norman", added a new feature to the narrative of the film. The system of turning people into wolves is very common in folklore of all ethnic groups, folklore and narratology call this type "swan virgin story", including China, such as the famous snail girl, who transformed into a human form and then quietly passed away... And similar film themes can also be seen in the East - from Japan's "The Tale of Hui Ye Ji": the latter tells the story of the bamboo forest fairy who cannot adapt after coming to the big city, and eventually returns to the hidden mountain forest, which shows that the two island civilizations in the east and west, which are far away from the ocean, have bred a similar story.
In fact, from the isomorphic alien flow of man and wolf, Wolfwalker can also clearly glimpse the film's main theme of differentiation: wolves represent Celtic forestation, while humans are standard industrial civilizations. At the same time, in the work, there is also a distinct pastoral point about anti-industrial civilization \ anti-urban life, and take into account the awakening of self-consciousness and personality independence, the metaphor of European colonial history, the theme of female self-growth and confrontation with patriarchal \ power oppression, such as the heroine's rebellion against her father, and finally in a dangerous moment, she transforms into a wolf walker, and the father, as a hunter, has been obeying the boss, and finally resolutely rebelled against the boss, and the blood of the wolf walker in the body is also awakened, it can be said that the heroine and his father, Both have gone through a process of obedience to awakening, representing what director Tom Moore has always wanted – as if this is also the universal character of the Irish.
But as an animated film, this film is not "Braveheart" after all, the final story direction of the film, but also reflects the fusion side - such as the blonde blue-eyed, known as the "English girl" protagonist, is representative of The Anglo-Saxon blood, and finally gave up the city life, followed by the red-haired, wolf walker known as the Celtic little girl, resolutely went to the depths of the forest, and eventually they all became wolfwalkers, representing the criticism of industrial civilization and urban life, and also representing the integration between the nations.
The story of "WolfWalker" is not complicated, but in the seemingly smooth rhythm, there is an undercurrent, and the struggle between humans and nature, the contest between the werewolf hunter and the wolfwalker, always makes the viewer have a thrilling feeling. The style of the film is very obvious, from irish legends, to the beautiful frames, to the magnificent music created by the film's soundtrack master Bruno Coulais ("Migrating Birds", "Spring of the Cattle Herding Class"), and the soul singer from Norway, Aurora's flexible title song, all make the film visually and audibly satisfying.
As for the theme of the story, this idyllic nostalgic cultural core has been the appeal of the integration of man and nature, seemingly simple but actually makes people feel relaxed, living in the metropolis, the soul that is tormented by the inner volume and lying flat, why not want to come to such a free hike?