Story Movie
Yuki and Ame are just ordinary children who should be immune to the hardships of the world around them. When their father, the last member of an ancient werewolf family, dies, their mother, an ordinary girl who once fell in love with a man who turned out to be a wolf, has to move away from the big city.
Review 4K Movie
Wolf Children is a very lighthearted animated film... yes, lighthearted, timeless, capable of evoking memories of childhood in even the most hardened viewer. Mamoru Hosoda has created his third, kindhearted, incomparable masterpiece.
The anticipation for this film deserves a special mention:
The first trailer and rumors about the upcoming third film by the famous Hosoda began circulating in December 2011, and the arrival of 2012 was a joyous occasion for fans of this director's films (in addition to this film, he has made other uplifting films such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars) was sweetened by the fact that this year they would see this intriguing creation. And now, the wait is over. Although, it is worth noting that in this case, those who waited all year are the lucky ones—going to the cinema to see Wolf Children is ten times sweeter for them, if not more.
Plot
All we can glean from the synopsis is the existence of two children—werewolves—whose father dies early, and whose mother is forced to hide them from prying eyes, moving far away from the city. But even this synopsis, which seems to promise no intrigue or epicness, is capable of stirring the interest of anyone with even a modicum of imagination and familiarity with the style of films that deal with the problems of fathers and children.
What will Hana do, left alone with two small children? How will she protect them from society, unable to control their transformations into wolves and back? Where should she run when her child is sent to the hospital and the veterinary clinic? How can she explain to her growing children that they cannot turn into wolves in front of people without damaging their self-perception?
It is not difficult to guess that we are dealing with a Great Saga about Motherhood. Animation
Those familiar with this director's other films are already accustomed to the meticulous drawing of characters, without being weighed down by unnecessary shadows and colorful clothing. But what is truly striking about the film are the landscapes and elements of nature. Spacious mountain meadows, rocky gorges, the freshness of a deep old forest with huge moss-covered trees, a sky with lush clouds, a gentle village sunset, a swaying spider web with dewdrops, snow-covered expanses, and a gloomy, distant sky that showers this beautiful land with abundant rain. All this evokes even greater delight when you know that the Tizu studio, created specifically for the production of the cartoon, approached the task very consistently and with high quality, using a real location for the cartoon, completely replicating the real school and even the house where Hana lives with her children.
Music
I have nothing to say about the music. Nothing, because whatever I say will be too little for such magnificent musical accompaniment. It is impossible not to smile when, to the jumping but at the same time peaceful music, the wolf cubs run through the snowy forest, weaving between the trees and sliding down the gentle slopes, and when the grown-up Ame strives to climb to the very top of the cliff, trying with all his might not to slip on the wet rocks covered in white mountain fog, your heart is ready to jump out of your chest, it's so exciting. And at the end of the cartoon, the peaceful, sweet, and slightly sad “Song of the Mother” performed by Sally Ann plays, and it is impossible to hold back the tears that well up.
Separately, it is necessary to mention the intertwined fairy-tale and realism of this creation: for the third time, Hosoda shows us an absolutely real world with absolutely real characters who have everyday and real problems familiar to us, but there is always one single element of fantasy in the work that immediately enlivens the whole picture. And if in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time it is a tool that allows one to cross time and space, then in Wolf Children it is the very existence of werewolves. And nothing more. Despite the fact that there is only one element of fantasy, it is beautifully intertwined with the everyday life shown and develops imperceptibly and smoothly throughout the narrative, which does not seem drawn out, despite its long running time of almost two hours. It is also noteworthy that in the homeland of this cartoon, it was shown in cinemas at the same time as Brave, and viewers had the opportunity to compare the European and Eastern views on the common themes of the films.
Brother and Sister: Two Paths
The viewer may want to see something exotic in the relationship and development of the two young werewolves, but this will not happen. Despite the two entities that reside within these children, they suffer, grieve, rejoice, and enjoy themselves just like any other ordinary children. Except that Ame and Yuki also have access to animalistic joy—dashing down a snowy slope on all four wolf legs, not forgetting to throw enthusiastic howls into the sky. The little werewolves, who complement each other so sweetly at the beginning of the film, will go their separate ways at the end. At the same time, this is not just a choice between good and evil, not at all, it is a choice of a life path in the deepest sense of the word. Who do they want to be? Humans or wolves?
Who are the real werewolves? Half-wolves or humans who insincerely change a hundred masks a day?
Will the sickly and withdrawn Ame be able to adapt to human society and remain human? Will the mischievous, daring Yuki, who has been chasing away all the rodents and snakes from her home since childhood, become the terror of the forests in wolf form?
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