Wolf Children
It’s not so much a fantasy tale as it is a very touching drama chronicling a widow’s struggles in raising her two children, who just happen to be half-wolf. Of course this condition – for want of a better term – lends itself to various moments, some dramatic and some jovial. The demise of the husband, for instance, is a gut-wrenching ordeal for Hana whereas for the Sanitation Department it is a mere nuisance. On the lighter side, a domestic emergency leaves Hana fretting over whether to consult a GP or a veterinarian and you the viewer can only giggle and think: “Yes, that would be a problem.”
Then as the story progresses, the children start questioning their identities. And here crux of Wolf Children’s main theme – the fear of not fitting in – comes into play. In the city there was no way they’d be accepted as they are, but in the country there is much more scope for them to be who they are, but even so should they embrace their wolf heritage or aim to be “more human”?
It is a lengthy tale, this movie, yet no less compelling for it. It runs the full gamut of emotions without overdoing any one of them. In fact, the scene where the children frolic through the snowy landscape should be a textbook case on how to depict unbridled joy. The ending may not necessarily be the pat wrap-up to be expected from a one-shot movie production, but it does offer a sense of closure in that it suggests everyone has no regrets about the choices they have made and that the family bond will always be strong.
A fine 9/10 it is then.