I grew up in the era of movies like E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Gremlins, and The Goonies. These films helped define me as a cinephile. Stranger Things, the Netflix series, was a great return to that cinematic era that reminds me so much. The last film that brought me back to my childhood is a short A24 film called The Legend of Ochi. This film had so much of what I remembered from my childhood. It was a very emotional journey for me while watching it. I think it will resonate with a whole new audience of children. Perhaps even parents will support this sweet story.
Yuri (Helena Zengel) is a girl who lives with her father, Maxim (Willem Dafoe), and her stepbrother Petro (Finn Wolfhard) on an isolated island in the Baltic Sea. She is taught not to go out at night because creatures live in the mountains and hunt at those hours. One night, a pack of Ochi go hunting, and they themselves are chased, and in the confusion, they abandon a baby Ochi. Defying her father, the little girl decides to help little Ochi return to her mother and to the place where she lives. In the process, she learns something about herself.
Director: Isaiah Saxon
Writer: Isaiah Saxon
Stars: Helena Zengel, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson
Willem Dafoe has been on a roll lately with all the strange and quirky characters he's played. He's played a deceased actor, a police officer in Beetlejuice, a father figure/scientist in The Poor Things, and an occult researcher in Nosferatu. It's safe to say he's played a wide variety of characters recently. His role as an overbearing father who wants his daughter back might be the most straightforward of all, despite the creatures at the center of the story. As in the classic ET, the extraterrestrial, he deals with parental issues, similar to Dee Wallace's character. He just wants to keep his flock safe. That's a very honorable thing to do. I liked that he played these kinds of roles. He always has his moments for stand-up comedy, and they're hilarious. He's still one of my favorite working actors. I'm always excited to see what crazy character he'll play next.
Helena Zengel made her film debut alongside one of the greats of the last generation, Tom Hanks, in News of the World. In that film, she performed well alongside Hanks, and now she's working alongside another screen legend, Dafoe. She spends most of her screen time alone, isolated in her room or in the woods or mountains, trying to get little Ochi back to his pack, specifically his mother. She learns their language and has to survive the cold, the streams, the bumps, and the bruises along the way. Zengel is a young actress to watch for in the future. She reminds me of Soarise Ronan at that age. We all know what a good actress she turned out to be, right?
I was fascinated by the location of this film. Filmmaker Isaiah Saxon could have chosen something more similar to American locations, but he set the film in a remote area. I suppose this gave the story a different feel. As for the people he was dealing with, the fog and the cold influenced the atmosphere he was going for. I'm sure of it. Although the people on the island had modern amenities like cars and cell phones, they had a closed-minded approach to the world. They lived stuck in the past, so to speak. Especially for Dafoe's character. Community was a distant concept for him. Seeing how close the ochi were to each other, he realized how much closer he needed to be to his own family. Family is an important theme in this story.
The ochi were an interesting race of creatures, a mix of apes and yeti in my view. They're adorable, similar in nature to ET in that film. The puppets and computer special effects were quite good. I didn't mind that, at a certain point, I knew they were puppets. However, the little ochi looked quite lifelike throughout the film. The screams and voices gave them a more authentic creature feel. I'll definitely remember the Ochi for a long time.
The Legend of Ochi is a sweet, beautiful, and heartwarming story that focuses on different types of families. How important it is to be part of the family dynamic in this world, no matter what kind of creature, human or otherwise, you are. The cast is excellent, with Dafoe doing what he's known for, and Zengel gives another very emotional performance opposite a heavyweight like Dafoe. The special effects and digital animation combine to give the Ochi a beautiful look, and I fell in love with them. I quite liked them, especially baby Ochi. This film reminded me of some of my favorite movies as a child. A24 continues to create new and interesting things that intrigue me. I really enjoyed this film in many ways... it's definitely my passion.
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