Just like a few other entries in this blog, Leafie, A Hen into the Wild is a movie about family and parenthood. The main character, Leafie was a chicken born and raised in a chicken farm where she was made to constantly lay eggs in horrid conditions. Her dream is to one day be a mother, but life in a battery cage is making achieving her goal impossible. Getting fed up with being treated badly, Leafie manages to escape. Eventually, she ends up moving to the wilds after being rejected by farmyard animals Leafie first thought she could live with.
She meets and befriends a mallard duck male called Wanderer. Leafie witnesses a weasel, One-eye, kill Wanderer's mate and volunteers to care for his only egg, now that his wife is gone. Wanderer agrees and gives Leafie instructions on how to raise the egg. Soon after, Wanderer himself dies trying to avenge his wife by fighting the weasel. Leafie than has to take care of the newly hatched duckling, who she named Greenie, alone.
Being a single parent is not easy, but Leafie also has to struggle with being discriminated by other birds, being chased by a vengeful weasel, and having her son question if it's necessary for them to even be a family in the first place. Leafie and Greenie are able to make their life together work, but time goes by and it's finally time for Greenie to leave the nest. He even got the same important position his father once held in a wild duck flock. However, Greenie is hesitant to leave his mother alone, worrying about her safety. Leafie is able to persuade him to leave, and after a heartfelt farewell, he does.
Leafie had promised her son she would be waiting for his return at their home, but when her old nemesis One-eye appears again, Leafie decides to sacrifice herself. She knows she is ill and doesn't have much time left. Living it the wet everglade wasn't healthy for her, and the winter was harsh to a former cage chicken like her. She recently learned that the One-eye was also a mother trying desperately to care for her own children. Not wanting to die in vain, she offers herself to her old enemy. And showing that she also had come to care for her enemy, One-eye cries while she kills Leafie.
I love this movie, and no, the bishounen ducks don't really bother me! XD
Chirin no Suzu (Chirin's Bell) is a short animated movie adaption of a picture book from 1978. It's a bittersweet story about a sheep named Chirin and how he gets consumed by his own negative thoughts. I can't remember when I first saw this movie, but I can say I have loved it for a loooong time! Maybe it's because I'm such a pessimist myself? The story starts relatively happy. Chirin is a young lamb living with his mother and other sheep on a pasture. His mother worries for him since Chirin has a tendency to wander off. That's why he was given a bell so that he could be found easier because of the sound. Chirin's mother explains to him, that the sheep cannot go beyond the fence because a wolf named Woe is living on the nearby mountain. Chirin is naive and doesn't really take his mother's warning to the heart, but promises to obey anyway. Months go by and one autumn night the wolf attacks the sheep that are sleeping in the barn...
I've been feeling a little blue lately so I thought this would be a perfect chance for me to talk a little about Kiki's Delivery Service. The movie tells the story of Kiki, a young witch girl just old enough to leave her home. "Young witches must journey alone to find a new town to live in", that is the old custom Kiki too has to follow. But she is not worried as she already has a plan! She has always dreamed of living in a town with an ocean view and so sets off towards the unknown full of hope and optimism. The first night on the road was not easy, but by the next morning, Kiki has already found her dream city. Kiki's dreams soon start to crack. Just moments after arriving in the town, she starts to get unwanted attention, almost gets into a car accident, is driven off from a public park and then a hotel clerk refuses to rent her a room because of her age. Things start to look hopeless, but when a kind bakery owner Osono sees Kiki fly...
(how many heart puns can I fit in this post? lol) Omae Umasou Da Na is a really sweet story about family. The name of the movie roughly translates to "You are delicious". The title is very fitting as the story follows Heart, an orphaned T-Rex that is adopted by a Maiasaura, a herbivore mother. Later in life Heart himself ends up raising an abandoned herbivore child. The movie is most definitely made for children, as it is based on a children's picture book series. However, it doesn't hold back in the least when it comments on the discrimination against families that do not fit the picture-perfect model. Heart's mother is forced to make a choice to either abandon the baby T-Rex she found, knowing there would be no way for it to survive on its own, or leave the herd she was part of. She did at first think about abandoning Heart because of the harsh reaction and cruel attitude of her herd mates. But after hearing Heart's pitiful cries, the mothe...
Okay, this sounds amazing, actually. Do you know where I could find it? :)
ReplyDelete