THE FOX AND THE CHILD (Le renard et l’enfant)

2007, Bonne Pioche

Live action

Rating: G

Approx. 92 mins.

THE STORY:

A young girl (Bertille Noël-Bruneau) living in rural France discovers a fox near her home one day, and becomes obsessed with befriending the wild animal. She follows and observes the animal over a period of time and the two eventually develop a relationship of mutual acceptance. Ultimately, however, the girl learns that wild animals are meant to be wild, and that the human and animal worlds can only overlap so much.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• N/A

VIOLENCE:

• sudden, graphic seeming-death of fox(see below)

TEACHING POINTS:

• Wild animals are to be respected as wild and not treated as pets
• Nature is a beautiful living thing unto itself
• Love is about acceptance not possession 

THE UPSHOT:

One of the advantages of this film is that it is highly visual and doesn’t rely on the viewer’s ability to read or understand much in the way of dialogue. Originally shot in French, the English version is narrated by Kate Winslet with dubbing of the main character’s very occasional, very brief lines. Some of the narration is a bit complex, but the action is self-explanatory. Fortunately, given the reliance on the visual, the cinematography and effects are great. There are plenty of insights into the lives and inter-relatedness of woodland animals, but the narrative saves it from feeling like an episode of Wild Kingdom.

The only issue I had with this film is the fact that in the last five minutes —SPOILER ALERT—the fox jumps through a 2^nd story window to its apparent death. It reappears, bloodied but alive, several minutes later; but by this point the damage was done. My 4 year-old cried and cried. And cried.

3/5