If you love superior animation, get with the ‘Flow’
What a transformative experience it is to bask in the beauty of Gints Zilbalodis’ Oscar-nominated “Flow.” Constructed for less than $4 million on the Latvian’s laptop using Blender software, it’s computer animation at its crudest, but also its finest. Lovingly scripted by Zilbalodis and Matiss Kaza, the dialogue-free masterpiece makes a subtle plea for compassion and understanding among humans while also emphasizing how detrimental climate change is for other crittes and their fragile habitats.
Told with heart, joy and a metaphysical undertone, it moves you like no animated feature since “Up.” It’s also intensely harrowing, as Zilbalodis blends elements of Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat” with traces of Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” to tell the engrossing tale of a ragtag assortment of natural enemies repeatedly cheating death while learning to live together inside a rickety sailboat drifting deeper into a frightening void.
What brings them together is a raging tsunami that has swept up everything in its path, leaving only the most resourceful animals to survive. They include a capybara (nature’s largest rodent), a ring-tailed lemur, a predatory secretarybird, a labrador and the movie’s chief protagonist, an adorable black house cat sporting huge amber-colored eyes and a keen intellect.
It’s obvious the feline was once a cherished companion to a human with an enormous love of kitties, as evidenced by the dozen cat statues populating the neglected front yard of the rustic cabin it calls home. Given the level of disarray inside the dwelling, you suspect the kitty’s owner has met his/her end. In fact, all humans have likely perished in a cataclysmic disaster of their own making, as the eerie ghost cities we see corroborate.
What the movie does best is convey the psychological toll these events have taken. For instance, the cat is lonely and sad when we first meet him fleeing a pack of hungry dogs. The animated kitty, like the real thing, is naturally skittish while also brimming with curiosity, and awed by new discoveries. As the boat takes on more and more passengers, the cat learns to trust and appreciate the value of the friendships it has forged with animals it assumed were inherent enemies.
That’s the story’s primary message, one of hope and peace. But it’s also meant to arouse a sense of shame and guilt within us for contributing to this dire situation through our reckless disregard for the environment. The animals didn’t create this crisis; we did. Perhaps that’s why “Flow” evokes so much compassion for these vulnerable creatures and a spiritual connection to them with its gorgeous depiction of death as a colorful, glorious metamorphosis.
Yes, spoiler alert, not everyone makes it out alive, which is in keeping with the filmmakers’ mission to keep things real, eschewing any temptation to anthropomorphize its characters. Each behaves like their real-life counterpart. The dog loves playing fetch; the lemur is a vain, selfish hoarder who can’t have enough treasures; the secretarybird is graceful and regal; the capybara is blissfully laid back; and the cat is complex, capable of contemplative thought one moment and chasing a beam of light reflecting off the lemur’s prized mirror the next.
The result is a movie that is as smart as it is thrilling and adventurous. And it’s barely 85 minutes. It also achieves the rare double honor of earning Oscar nods for Best International Film as well as Best Animated Feature. Take that Pixar and your disappointing “Inside Out 2,” a fellow animation nominee that “Flow” eats for lunch. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself starting Friday when “Flow” begins streaming on Max. You can thank me later.
But will Zilbalodis have the opportunity to thank the Academy? Alas, I fear the movie is too nuanced and cerebral to win either of its categories. It most certainly possesses all the engaging attributes of its chief rival, DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot,” which cost 30 times more to make. That’s not to suggest that “Flow” doesn’t look like $100 million bucks. By all measures, it’s a gorgeous work of artistry, meticulously conceived and illustrated. You’ll particularly marvel at Zilbalodis’ attention to detail, perfectly replicating the sleek movements of the cat and the flowing ripples in the water, as schools of fish sweep through it.
I promise it will blow your mind. But what you walk away remembering most is the kitty and its many brushes with death, whether it’s falling from great heights or literally fighting to keep its head above water. Never have nine lives proved so invaluable. And no, kitty, the lemur’s tail is not a batting toy. But do keep your new whale friend close. He’s not just a “fluke.” Ditto for the equally majestic “Flow.”
Movie review
Flow
Rated: PG
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Writers: Gints Zilbalodis and Matiss Kaza
Runtime: 89 minutes
Where: Streaming on Max starting Feb. 14
Grade: A
