Wolf Children

Wolf Children is a beautiful film about a woman who falls in love with a werewolf and raises two adorably cute little werewolf kids. It's much more than that of course. It's a film that covers a number of strong themes, mainly: the fierce devotion of a mother to her children, the passing of time and the difficulty of finding ones own place in the world. Most of all however, this film wins the prize for cutest depiction of little hybrid animal-children characters ever committed to animation.

Spoilers ahead:

When university student Hana first meets the wolfman (for some reason he doesn't appear to be given a proper name) he falls instantly in love. And why not? He's tall, dark and handsome. He's also a bit surly and seems to lack social skills. But she persists and he opens up to her. The scene where he reveals his true wolf self is a magical moment - she gazes at him in awe while the stars in the night sky revolve around them. What I adore so much about this film is that there are so many other magical scenes in this film.

I don't think it is too much of a spoiler to reveal that the wolfman dies quite early on in the film. It is a short and brutal scene and we aren't left with much time to grieve. The young mum carrying two very young kids/pups has to deal with it and move on quickly. This is where the film truly begins. The bulk of the story focuses on how young Hana struggles to raise two very demanding young children while at the same time keeping their wolfy secret away from public attention. It seems everything and everyone in the city is against her and she struggles to cope.

Hana decides to leave the city and move to the remote countryside. Here the kids have complete freedom to run around and be at one with nature. But it's not easy. Hana has no clue how to till the land and grow crops. Her money is running out and although the kids have wolf like instincts, she worries that they will need more nurturing in the ways of the wild - a job she isn't capable of doing.

Over time, the family cope and begin to enjoy their life secluded in the mountains. They even make friends with the local villagers. There are a couple of nail biting moments as the locals spot the kids playing around in their wolf form. The locals convince themselves that wolves no longer exist and that they are merely an Alsation mix breed of dog. Phew!

The scene where the mum and two kids burst out into the freshly fallen winter snow and run around like crazy is such a joyous visual spectacle. I felt like I too was there running and falling down in the deep snow. It reminded me a lot of when Bambi's sees snow for the first time.

The passage of time is a common theme with a lot of anime and so it is with this film. The little kids grow up into older kids and have to deal with all the issues that come with this newly aware stage of their life. The younger sibling, Ame, always the shy and withdrawn child grows into a confident young eco-warrior who is less and less interested in human life preferring instead to hang out with the animals in the mountain. For older sibling Yuki, she grows from being the tear away wild child into an older schoolgirl who is more self conscious of her appearance. This is especially so when she notices a boy in her class, Sohei, that she fancies. Another terrifically powerful scene is when Yuki cannot hold back her secret any longer and bravely, through tears, reveals her wolf self to Sohei. The wind blowing the net curtains that briefly mask her wolf ears. She's risking everything by doing so. Sohei, being the cool kid that he is, simply shrugs and says, yeah I knew all along don't worry. Kids eh?

The animation quality is decent. Arguably the character work is not as detailed or intricately rendered as some other anime films but I actually think the more simple style of artwork fits the story and themes perfectly. It is the same style of artwork used in Mamoru Hosoda's other feature film: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (review coming soon.) There are still a lot of stunning scenes: the aforementioned snow scene and the Yuki wolf reveal scene. The variety and quality of the background art is very impressive too - this film covers urban city settings and countryside scenes throughout many seasons. Also, all the scenes showing the little wolf cub kids running around getting up to mischief had me in tears of laughter.

The final portion of the film mainly centres around the relationship between Hana and her son. As he becomes more and more withdrawn from daily life his mother's fear that she will lose him is becoming more of a reality. She demands he does not go into the mountains anymore but the pull of the wild is too strong and he exits the house. Distraught and fearing that he will come to harm she ventures into the raging storm to find him. She knows in her heart that actually he is perfectly capable of living in the wild but she cannot let him go. And that's completely understandable from her point of view when you consider all the years where she has fiercely protected and guarded her kids single handedly. These scenes are very powerful and so beautifully captured.

I totally loved this film. It shows the triumph of a mum's devotion and self sacrifice for the sake of her kids. It's true a modern day fairy tale that makes you want to believe that somewhere out there are a bunch of adorably cute little half wolf half human kids running around a meadow field happy and free.

9/10


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