Category: Imaginary Animals: No
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The human urge to revolutionize animals: A contrast with the pursuit of superiority
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Dir. James Gunn. Marvel Studios. 2023 (Timestamp: 27:00-30:30) The relationship between humans and animals has evolved throughout history. There are countless cases of humans exhibiting a persistent desire to influence the course of evolution in the animal kingdom. This desire to revolutionize animals is often driven by a complex interplay…
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The Darjeeling Limited. Dir. Wes Anderson. Searchlight Pictures. 2007
Animals Articulating Emotion and Inspiring Growth in The Darjeeling Limited In an attempt to remedy their stagnant relationship, three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) board a train travelling around India. Each brother harbours his own inner turmoil which contributes to the complex relationship between the brothers and is often…
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Two Brothers. Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. Pathe. 2004.
Set against the backdrop of 1920s French Indochina, Two Brothers chronicles the poignant journey of two tiger siblings, Kumal and Sangha. From playful cubs roaming freely in the wild, their lives take a turbulent turn when human intervention tears them apart. Kumal, captured by treasure hunters, ends up as a performing circus tiger, whilst Sangha,…
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Open Season. Dir. Roger Allers. Sony Pictures Animation, Columbia Pictures. 2006
Staging an Attack Open Season (2006) uses light composition and visual design to critique dominant ideologies concerning hunter-and-hunted relationships and to reflect and shape particular cultural tensions relating to the protection of animals against violence. In a scene in which, misconceptions lead to a crowd panicking when it appears Boog is killing Elliot backstage, emphasis is placed…
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Hotel for Dogs. Dir. Thor Freudenthal. Dreamworks. 2009.
Animals, a cutesy love story and the rise of underdogs… literally. What more could you want in a film? Well, ‘Hotel for Dogs’ (Thor Freudenthal/ 2009) covers a multitude of heart-wrenching topics which are compacted within a fun-loving Nickelodeon film. W.C. Fields stated ‘never work with children or animals’;[1] Thor Freudenthal the director ignores this…
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The Banshees of Inisherin. Dir. Martin McDonagh. Searchlight Pictures. 2015
“Do you think God gives a damn about miniature donkeys, Colm?” “I fear he doesn’t. And I fear that’s where it’s all gone wrong.” Martin McDonagh’s, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022), is a Tolstoyan tragicomedy combined with macabre naturalism which works to present the asperity and invaluableness of life and friendship. One significant friendship occurs between…
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The Little Prince. Dir. Mark Osborne. Paramount Pictures. 2015
“One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” In The Little Prince the depiction of foxes defies conventional animality as they generally symbolise perfidy. But The Fox here is characterised as holding pragmatic intellectual power. He is a teacher but does not hold any other forms of power,…
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Anastasia. Dir. Don Bluth, Gary Goldman. 20th Century Fox. 1997.
Oh great! A dog wants me to go to St. Petersburg. Anastasia. 1997. An adventure with strangers and a new puppy! Twentieth Century Fox’s whimsically animated Anastasia follows an orphaned Russian princess, who befriends a scruffy puppy, Pooka. The real journey begins once Pooka is introduced, winning the audience’s heart with his doe eyed, emotive…
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The Future. Dir. Miranda July. Roadside Attractions (US). 2011
The title of the film, The Future, is emblematic of the very thing the characters fear, what is the unknown. July certainly lets the cat out of the bag as she reveals her inner monologue through the narration of an anthropomorphic feline. The cat plays a central role in the drama, as it begins with…
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Kedi. Dir. Ceyda Torun Oscilloscope Laboratories (2016)
Have you ever wondered what the everyday life of a street cat looks like? ‘Kedi’ is an observational documentary film that follows the stray cats of Istanbul through their daily life, soundtracked by interviews of real-life people that become our narrators and storytellers for the history of these cats. The documentary goes beyond the stereotypical…