Tag: HAR: Interest/Observation
-
Antisemitism. The Rat Catcher. Dir. Wes Anderson. Netflix. 2023.
Is, I suppose, how the conversation went between Wes Anderson and his casting agent when searching for an actor to play the titular character. Following Anderson’s success with Fantastic Mr. Fox there is no surprise that Anderson jumped at the opportunity to return to the works of Roald Dahl. The Rat Catcher is a short…
-
My Octopus Teacher. Dir. Pippa Ehrlich & James Reed. Netflix. 2020
‘A lot of people say an octopus is like an alien. But the strange thing is, as you get closer to them, you realize that we’re very similar in a lot of ways.’ There is a popular saying among marine biologists that ‘we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about…
-
Storm Boy. Dir. Shawn Seet. Sony Pictures. 2019.
Introduction Storm Boy (2019) is an Australian film adapted from the 1964 children’s novel of the same name by Colin Thiele, explores the extraordinary bond between a young boy named Michael and his relationship with pelicans. The story unfolds with an adult Michael being troubled by the impending business deal in the company he founded.…
-
Nomadland. Chloe Zhao. Searchlight Pictures. 2020.
Chloe Zhao’s 2021 feature film Nomadland explores the conditions of the American landscape, nomadic experiences and estranged relationships of belonging amidst continuously unstable socio-political and economic conditions of the 21st century. Zhao blends a naturalist style of filmmaking with observational realism to explore the stories of nomads living in rural America, employing non-actors to play…
-
My Octopus Teacher. Dir. Pippa Ehrlich & James Reed. Netflix. 2020
“She was teaching me to become sensitized to the other.” The biographical documentary ‘My Octopus Teacher’ follows the unique relationship between wildlife filmmaker Craig Foster and an octopus living on the Western Cape of South Africa. As the film unfolds, the octopus becomes accustomed to Foster’s presence and what starts as curiosity blossoms into an…
-
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,…
-
Big Miracle. Dir. Ken Kwapis. Universal Pictures. 2012.
”And we ache for them cause they are so much like us”. Rachel Kramer. The film Big Miracle is a drama directed by Ken Kwapis and distributed by Universal Pictures in 2012. It is based on the book Freeing the Whales written by Tom Rose in 1989, which narrates the 1988 Operation Breakthrough to rescue…
-
Garfield. Dir. Peter Hewitt. 20th Century Fox. 2004.
This 2004 family comedy revolves around Garfield, a lazy, lasagna-loving cat who has the perfect life with his owner, Jon. Accustomed to luxury treatment, lavish meals and relying on his quick wit to get his way, the film opens on Garfield’s extravagant morning routine and his devious antics around the cul-de-sac. Unsurprisingly, Garfield is at…
-
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Dir.Jay Russell, Sony Pictures Releasing, 2007, U.S.
The filmmakers of The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep present audiences with the idea that a wild, Scottish mythological creature can (a) exist, (b) be a pet, and (c) a friend, to a young boy. Angus and the water horse’s friendship makes the point that not only can dogs be ‘man’s best friend’, but…
-
Lamb. Dir. Valdimar Jóhannsson. Sena. 2021
Like a lamb to the slaughter, the slow-burn, absurd surrealness of A24’s Lamb (2021) leads the audience to an end that blends both chilling twists and heartbreaking loss as the complications that are inevitable with blurring binaries between human-animal relations come to fruition. In a playful, sardonic reconfiguration of oppositions between captivity and freedom, wildness…