Early in my tenure at this paper, a coworker told me, “Reader readers are seldom breeders.” Like the opening words of a nursery rhyme, this dictum has stuck with me over the years, and it partly explains why we devote so little of our resources to reviewing children’s films. With adult-minded movies ever harder to find in theaters, surely movies for kids can take care of themselves, driven as they are by epic marketing campaigns and the awesome peer pressure of schoolyard buzz. But then along comes an obscure gem such as the French-Danish animation Long Way North, opening Friday for a two-week holiday run, in both dubbed and subtitled versions, at Gene Siskel Film Center. The tale of a Russian girl setting sail for the arctic circle in the 1880s, it’s beautifully rendered in simple 2-D animation that focuses attention on the characters, and these are so credibly conceived that the film, like all good family fare, has the power to unite children and adults through the sheer force of its storytelling.
The poster-style artwork wields even greater power when Sacha arrives in the blinding whiteness of the arctic north and her indomitable will collides with the savagery of nature. The Norge heads north into an ice field, the ocean waters peacock blue, cerulean marking the jagged edges of the ice sheets, and the pale blue sky offset at the water’s horizon by a wisp of cloud. Later, after the Norge has been lost and the explorers have no option but to push forward in search of the Davai, blues and grays conjure up the giant ice formations in all their serrated beauty. At the climax, Sacha and the cabin boy, Katch, are menaced by a polar bear towering above them on its hind legs; rendered in white with gray shadow, against a pale yellow background, the image feels as flat as wallpaper, but the minimal black dots marking the bear’s eyes are terrifying.
Directed by Rémi Chayé
