Win 5 pairs of Golden Village movie passes to The Fox & The Child

Answer the following question and email (contest.urbanwire@gmail.com) the right answer along with your full name, postal address and contact number for your chance to win a pair of tickets:

“The movie is based on the tale of a girl who develops a friendship with a wild fox.” True/False?

Movie Review:

“Two worlds, which seem separated by everything, meet through an unforgettable story of friendship.”

In a nutshell, it can be said that the strength of this French film lies chiefly in its aesthetics and “Kodak” moments. The Fox & The Child opens to a breath-taking and undeniably picturesque scene of the beautiful Gallic countryside. This story is of a little 10-year-old girl (Bertille Noël-Bruneau) and her unusual friendship with a wild fox.

Coming from the director whose Academy award-winning March of The Penguins (2005) received success both critically and commercially, Luc Jacquet’s new docu-fictional offering of The Fox & The Child doesn’t quite meet the cut in its two parts fairy-tale, one part documentary formula.

Granted, there are certainly some amazing close-up footages of animal action and scenic features of the subalpine landscape over four seasons, the story telling element simply falls flat in the obvious narration and lack of insight. Why tell us what we can already see for ourselves?

The little girl, called “Lilo” by her anxious parents in one scene, is a winsome character whose curious and independent disposition leads her to her initial meeting with a fox by an ash tree one autumn day.

Child-actress Bertille is convincing in her role as a child brought up in a farm in the countryside despite having been described to be a city girl who was “not familiar with the mountains, nor with animals, even less so if they are wild.” Her natural girlish charm works well to engage the audience in her little escapades with her oftentimes unpredictable but affectionate furry friend.

The range of animals on set for The Fox & The Child is a point of interest. It is a surprise that so much wildlife: foxes, wolves, a bear, hedgehogs, owls, deer, frogs, eagles and even a snow leopard, exists in one place. Expect a visual treat as it is the presence of expert animal specialists and handlers on-set that bringing to live director Jacquet’s vision of a cinematic utopian experience was made possible.

There is a deeper meaning to this movie and that can be found in the study of the relationship between little “Lilo” and the fox, which she named “Titou”. It is especially in the scenes where she tries to leash her trusting friend and subsequently brings “Titou” into her room where we gain an important understanding of the mistakes we often make, even in our inter-personal relationships, by trying to possess or keep someone we love in captivity. There is also the direct meaning of the strange yet precious relationship between the girl and her wild furry friend, where an animal of the “wild does not have its place in captivity”.

For a 92-minute film that has a promising story title, this feels too much like an overlong IMAX feature on top of its lack of a real plot or climax. The Fox & The Child may have its stunning bits but frankly, it actually starts to feel a tad long towards the last 20 minutes of the film.

UrbanWire gives The Fox & The Child 2.5 out of 5.

Movie Details:

Released: Sept 11
Runtime: 92min
Language: French with English & Chinese subtitles
Cast: Bertille Noel-Bruneau, Isabelle Carre
Genre: Drama, Family, Nature
Screenplay & Adaptation: Luc Jacquet, Eric Rognard

(Movie still credits: Festive Films)