Minor spoilers, recommended to watch.
The summer slot for 2021 consists of a main theme and animation. The first baton to pick up animated film solitaire was Irish independent animation studio Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalker.
If you have seen the Secret of the Book of Kells, the Song of the Sea or The Breadwinner, then you should not be unfamiliar with the name of the cartoon salon. Since 2009, cartoon salon has only released a total of 4 animated feature films, but without exception, they have impressed audiences with their dreamlike hand-drawn style.
Released on July 3, "Wolf Walker" is the finale of the "Irish Folklore Trilogy" after "The Secret of the Book of Kells" and "Song of the Sea". All three works are based on Irish folklore: The Secret of the Book of Kells is based on the Irish national treasure Of Kells, which tells the adventures of young Brandon drawing scriptures, and "Song of the Sea", inspired by the story of seal spirits, to unfold the fantasy experience of the two brothers and sisters on their way back home.
Wolfwalker is based on ossori werewolves. In the film, the apprentice hunter Robin moves from England to Ireland with his father, and under the orders of the Protector, Robin's father must destroy the wolves outside the city. While secretly following her father to the forest outside the city to hunt, Robin mistakenly becomes friends with Mifu, a wolfwalker who "wakes up and becomes a wolf in her dreams", and her thoughts and life change.
Like The Secret of the Book of Kells and Song of the Sea, Wolf Walker has appeared on the list of winners: 48th Annie Awards for Best Independent Animated Feature, 93rd Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, 79th Golden Globe Awards for Best Animated Feature Nomination... In addition to the recognition of mainstream awards, the film's Rotten Tomatoes freshness score of 99% and Douban reached 7.8 points, which has also been widely recognized among ordinary audiences.
A thousand viewers will have a thousand interpretations of Wolfwalker. Environmentalists may be able to see a reflection on the relationship between man and nature; audiences who pay attention to women's issues may be able to see women who pursue freedom break through the cage of patriarchy; audiences familiar with British and Irish history may be able to glimpse the revolt of the colonizers against the colonizers; and audiences who are involved in religion may be able to read from the plot the mourning for the disappearance of primitive religion and the implicit criticism of Puritan doctrine.
Looking at the reports on "Wolfwalker", it is not difficult to find that directors Tom Moore and Rose Stuart have a large number of "bootleggers" in the film.
At the beginning of Wolfwalker, the time and place of the story are given: Kilkenny in 1650. The city was home to the cartoon salons, where Moore had lived for 44 years, and the center of the Confederate Ireland (also known as the Kilkenny League), founded in 1640. The Confederacy of Ireland, with the aim of establishing a royalist Catholic Ireland, was the stronghold of the "Conservative Party". When England invaded Ireland in 1649, Kilkenny became the stronghold of Cromwell, the Puritan protector. The invaders also went on a rampage in Ireland, not only to wipe out wolves, but also to find irish "rebels" hiding in the forest.
In an interview with Vulture, Stuart said the environmental devastation and cultural conflicts brought about by English colonists in the mid-17th century provided the "perfect backdrop" for the story: during that period of history, "the ancient Irish culture that emphasized matriarchy and concerned with connection with nature was seen as paganism, and the Puritans, with a strong sense of patriarchy and trying to tame nature, suddenly invaded and replaced the original culture." ”
After a cursory look at the historical background, let's look at the story of "Wolf Walker", in which people and wolves, cities and forests constitute the most basic contrast in the film. In the film, Robin wants to become a hunter, but carries the shackles of fate that women must work in the laundry room for the rest of their lives. Faced with the iron fist governance of the Protector, she repeatedly chose to suppress herself. The unruly, freewheeling Wolfwalker Mif is another image of Robin. The encounter with Miff allows Robin to transform into a wolf after falling asleep and gain a moment of freedom. While breaking free from the shackles, the wolf-shaped Robin had to face the guns of his fellow tribesmen.
From the contrast between Robin and Mifu to the history, you can appreciate the restoration of the details of the animation and the complexity of the connotation. The St. George's Cross flying in the city is the representative flag of England, so the local children of Kilkenny have no respect for the flag. As an outsider, Robin's English accent is ridiculed by Irish children, while Wolfwalker Mif's English is Irish accent and occasionally pops up an Irish word. When the Protector led his army to set fire to the forest, he shouted not only the slogan of "hunting wolves", but also the desire to eliminate "witches" and "infidels", suggesting religious elements in WolfWalker.
Combined with the characteristics of the times, the role settings that some modern people can hardly agree with have also become reasonable. For example, Robin's father's love for his daughter is obvious, but he still can't listen to Robin's explanation of the wolf walker, and insists on sending his daughter to the laundry room to work, because he believes that the laundry room is the ultimate destination of a woman's work, in line with the image of a father who loves his daughter but is deeply infected by patriarchal ideas. For example, the protector of Cromwell, who was forced to a cliff at the end of his life, still did not forget to pray to God, believing that he had fulfilled God's will and was in line with the image of a devout Puritan. The strong historical and cultural atmosphere of Ireland may be the special feature of "Wolfwalker" from other animation works of the same genre.
Of course, Wolfwalker is trying to convey not only the story of man and wolf, nor just the story of Ireland. The antagonism between man and wolf, the opposition between father and Rabin, the opposition between the protector and Robin, and even the antagonism between the colonists and the natives of Kilkenny are all all alluding to the division between "self" and "other"—as long as you and I are different, then you and I are naturally enemies. At this time, looking back at the setting that the wolfwalker "can switch between the human form and the wolf form", it is not difficult to find that the wolfwalker family is just in the middle zone, with the ability to observe and think from the standpoint of both sides. In explaining the theme of the film, the two directors also hope to evoke empathy in the current environment of accusations and insults by showing the world of "Wolfwalker", which is either enemy or enemy.
In terms of lens language, from "The Secret of the Book of Kells" in 2009 to "Wolf Walker" in 2021, cartoon salon's painting style has always been unique. Contrary to the popular trend of "making animation more realistic", Cartoon Salon continued the tradition of hand-drawn animation in Wolfwalker, allowing the audience to return to the "two-dimensional experience". On closer inspection, wolf walkers don't even use basic perspective when drawing cities. Some of the thick hand-drawn lines are also left on the picture, showing obvious hand-drawn traces.
Not following the trend does not mean that the camera language of the cartoon salon is inferior in atmosphere shaping and emotional communication. For example, as mentioned earlier, the basic contrast between man and wolf, city and forest in WolfWalker also adopts different styles when painting. Rowin, the cityman, is skinny, almost made up of cracked geometric pieces that seem to have been disciplined to produce edges and angles, while the contrast to The Wolfwalker Miff uses smooth curves to show her wild and instinctive impulses. The city is painted in reference to 17th-century prints, with dark rough lines and tightly seamed squares creating the image of a "cage"; the forest takes on a gouache texture to create a sense of lush vegetation and vitality.
Speaking about the style of painting, Moore revealed in an interview with Screen Daily that Diidier Brunner, founder of the French animation production company Folivari, had warned the animation salon not to imitate the American style in a vain way. Moore also pointed out that many European studios have moved towards the "mid-Atlantic" style, making animation that is neither European nor American; it is precisely to create works with strong personalities that make cartoon salon stand out among many animation studios. Moore also made it clear that the animation salon was "not a replica of Pixar," and Pixar is known worldwide for its realistic avatars.
It can be seen that from the theme to the content to the painting, every frame of "Wolfwalker" contains the Irish history and culture and the unique aesthetic style of the animation salon.
Overall, the deep meaning and high-quality painting make "Wolfwalker" a film worthy of careful savoring by the audience. However, the film uses a lot of metaphors that Western audiences can understand at a glance, which may set a certain degree of understanding threshold for audiences who do not understand the cultural background. The two directors incorporate a lot of thinking about nature and history into their works, which makes "Wolfwalker" not a "cool" animated film. Audiences who walk into the theater with the mentality of "watching animation and watching a cool" will most likely not be able to stand the grinding and chirping of Robin's father, always hanging "This is for your own good", and it is difficult to accept a lot of slow plot advancement caused by "poor communication". In addition, moviegoers who are more serious about thinking may also regret the ending of the film because of the ending of "going to a reunion without solving any problems".