Tag: HAR: Food
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Ring of Bright Water. Dir. Jack Couffer. Cinerama Releasing Corp. 1969.
“He was boneless, mercurial, sinuous, wonderful… he was an otter in his own element and the most beautiful thing in nature I had ever seen.” [1] The 1960s seems littered with autobiographical accounts of human and animal relations which are, as a result of the popularity of the novel, projected upon the platform of film.…
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The Lobster. Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos. Picturehouse Entertainment. 2015.
The Lobster is a modern parable in which societal norms are completely called into question by absurdity of form. In the not too distant, or not too past, world of The Lobster, single people are sent to a hotel in which they must find a mate in 45 days or otherwise be turned into an animal of…
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Samsara. Dir. Ron Fricke. Oscilloscope Laboratories. 2011.
Samsara (2011) is a non-narrative documentary directed by Ron Fricke.[1] “Samsara” is a Sanskrit word for the cycle of birth, life and death. Through this theme, the film aims to ‘illuminate the links between humanity and the rest of nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet’.[2] One particular sequence depicts the different…
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Charlotte’s Web. Dir. Gary Winick. Paramount Pictures. 2006.
Based on the classic children’s story by E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web (2006) follows the journey of a runty piglet, Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay), saved by the farmer’s daughter Fern (Dakota Fanning) and raised on the nearby farm. Wilbur remains friendless until he meets Charlotte (Julia Roberts), the spider who lives in the barn. Although initially…
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Chicken Run. Dir. Peter Lord and Nick Park. Pathe Distribution Ltd.. 2000.
I must have first seen Aardman Animation’s Chicken Run (2000) around the age of seven, not long after its initial release, and I remember frequently quoting it after that. But the film’s self-consciousness about its family audience, manifested in the wonderful attention to detail, has meant that I have kept enjoying, noticing and learning new…
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Fantastic Mr. Fox. Dir. Wes Anderson. 20th Century Fox. 2009.
Mr. Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox is a charismatic selfish father that puts his own wants and needs before his family. The narrative follows Mr. Fox and his many escapades of stealing chickens and putting his family and town into harm’s way by interfering with three powerful corporate farmers. After being fooled one too many times, the…
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Povelitel’Mukh / Lord of the Flies. Dir. Vladimir Tyulkin. Kazakhfilm. 1990.
Vladimir Tyulkin’s Lord of the Flies (Tyulkin, 1990), shot in Kazakhstan on the eve of the Soviet Union’s fall, discusses imperial, social, and human fragility within the microcosm of ‘Grandpa’ Kirill’s yard. As Kirill states, “My yard is… a state in miniature… I look upon the numerous breeds of animals living in my yard as nations”. Kirill,…
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Happy Feet. Dir. George Miller. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2006.
The Warner Bros. Pictures (2006) film Happy Feet tells the heart-warming tale of Mumble (Elijah Wood), a dancing emperor penguin who is a little different from the rest of his kind.[1] Mumble becomes an outcast in his own community because unlike every emperor penguin before him he is unable to sing. His talents lie elsewhere in the form…
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Animals: Friend or Food?. Dir. Jason Young . National Film Board of Canada. 2003.
Animals, a documentary film directed by Jason Young, follows a young couple’s journey through a year-long experiment in raising their own livestock on a farm in Nova Scotia. The re-birth of the abandoned farm the couple takes over mirrors his re-birth as he changes from urbanite to farmer. After questioning their relationship with animals, the two…