Le renard et l'enfant

In the French countryside, a beautiful red-headed girl spies a fox. Its love at first glance. Thereafter, the young lass uses much of her free time looking through the meadows and woods for her new friend. At one point, the young girl breaks a leg and must stay indoors for quite a spell. Her parents bring her books on foxes, which she devours. Soon, she is back outside, after the winter has passed. Meanwhile, the fox has had a scary run-in with a wild cat but made it to a hole, exhausted but alive. She also finds her mate and delivers two young foxes. Through some instinctive miracle, the fox does let the young girl pet her from time to time. Also, when a large bird of prey decides on a young fox meal, the girl is there to cover the pup with her body until the danger has passed. Will the girl and her fox remain friends forever? This is a stunningly beautiful film, with superb photography. Animal lovers will rejoice at seeing the world through a fox's eyes and admire the little girl's avid interest in the natural world near her home. Also, Kate Winslet's English narration is quite wonderful, too. But, alas, the scary moments are very real, for nature is often cruel. This will upset younger children and sensitive viewers, who love creatures but hate the harsh eat-or-be-eaten world. This reviewer, for example, couldn't finish the film, for there were too many "close calls" for the fox and her family. But, if you are the type who can just celebrate the life of animals, no matter what the results, this is probably a film you don't want to overlook.

This movie gave me a magnificent end for winter vacations... A real visual poem, and a simple, fascinating story with a so meaningful message that left me with happy, copious tears: the friendship between a little girl and a fox from the forest. A beautiful, timeless fable concerning the value of friendship, love... and the risk of confusing these feelings with the selfish possession of friends or loved ones, because, as the narrator says: "I understood that I wouldn't retain it if I bound it to me". It's just great: the story, the photography, the music, the characters... I remembered so many moments of my childhood through the little girl that opened her innocent eyes to wilderness and its fascinating world, and I wept happily for those times I tried to retain somebody to me, and finally I had to let him/her go. It makes you smile, weep, think, and grow. A 20/10 to French cinema for this sweet masterwork.

See it, admire it, make it yours... It will become one of your favorites.

The very first image of the movie shows a mountain ridge in early morning autumn mist, and my thought was: "This is almost too beautiful." And it goes on like this: Images of landscape and animals that look like a series of romantic paintings, each of them perfect in every detail. Even the girl's room, her father's car - everything is nostalgic, romantic, beautiful. This could seem outdated and escapistic, but it fits a story that is itself of silent beauty, happening on the border between life and fairy tale, between Dian Fossey and Le Petit Prince. I enjoyed every minute of it. The extreme parsimony of the movie, having a simple, slow story, just one actor and hardly any special effects, exerted a strong magic. I therefore find it deplorable that this parsimony is given up in the last minutes, when suddenly two additional actors (the girl as a grown-up woman, and her son) are introduced. Another shortcoming is the music, which is often intrusive, Hollywood-like, and sometimes inappropriate: I couldn't bring an English pop-song together with French mountain glory. I went to the movie together with my two small daughters, but I recommend it to adults as well, given that they appreciate this kind of movie. Obviously, not everybody does.

This is a very beautiful and almost meditative film-there is hardly any dialogue in it, apart from the narration; and the scenery and music compliment each other perfectly. I didn't at first connect the red hair of the girl and the fox until it was pointed out to me by a friend (who also has red hair!) It is almost an old fashioned type of children's films, saying that children nowadays prefer animations like Shrek or Toy Story etc-but I feel that young people should be introduced more to the beauty and wonder of nature which this film certainly does. Maybe not the best ever film of its type but certainly an excellent and relaxing view for all ages -not just children.

THE FOX AND THE CHILD is the latest film from MARCH OF THE PENGUINS filmmaker Frenchman Luc Jacquet. The movie, which boasts just one human being in its cast, young actress Bertille Noël-Bruneau, tells the story of the rather rare, though seemingly believable relationship between a child and a wild fox.

Part-nature documentary, and part-fairy tale, the film focuses on L'Infant, the child, who on her way to school one day comes across the path of a wild fox in a picturesque setting, possibly France, though the exact location is never mentioned. Over the coming weeks the child revisits the place where she found her fox hopeful that one of said days she will see said fox, who she begins to call Lily, once again. And so it goes on. Days turn to weeks, and then the summer disappears, turning to fall and then winter, promting some superb cinematography of the sweeping, white winter landscape. Eventually, spring comes around again, and the young child finds her fox, and indeed does strike up a friendship with the animal. And so on.

I had little to no expectation for THE FOX AND THE CHILD. I had seen MARCH OF THE PENGUINS and was simply in awe at the film-making contained in that movie. Luc Jacquet is a hugely talented, and indeed rare film-maker, and I was expecting some superb, breathtaking cinematography, sweeping vistas and brilliant footage of the wildlife. This was delivered in spades. But here Jacquet has a screen writing credit, and not knowing anything about the movie prior to the screening, I expected something a little different than what had previously been seen in 'March'. A fictional story.

The child and the fox And the story is simple. A young, seemingly lonely child lives in a house in the middle of nowhere and walks to school, seemingly on her own, every day, seemingly without a care in the a seemingly perfect world. Without the hint of an adult in sight. Brilliant. So she strikes up a friendship with a fox.

With a film like this, you have to dismiss your own opinion of the movie and put yourselves in the shoes of the target audience. This is a film which is aimed directly at children from the age of, I'd say, six and up. Or to families who fancy a trip to the cinema with their breed one wet Sunday afternoon. Not a 31-year-old male who gets his kicks from films like the recent, brilliant WANTED and the like. But, me being the newbie London critic, I put myself in the shoes of an excited eight-year old girl for the 95 or so minutes of THE FOX AND THE CHILD. Now, I have a few problems with this film. As a 31-year-old lad, and loyal lover of all things cinematic, I loved the wildlife and landscape photography. It's visually stunning. The direction of the animal characters is brilliantly executed -- as good as you will find on any of Attenborough's efforts. As an impressionable, short attention spanning eight year old, I loved about the first half hour -- then I lost interest. It's a little repetitive and in places quite harrowing and bloody scary for a younger child, particularly the rather dark ending. As a 31-year-old male -- I was a little frightened in places. Wuss.

So, it's not a child's film. It's not really an adult film and I felt a little let down. Is it a good family film. Depends. It's educational maybe, and the film carries a message. It's definitely not a film I would pay the hard earned green to go see and I'm racking my brains to try and recommend it to a certain type of film goer. It's hard, but I know some will go see and fall in love this film. It's very European in feel and certainly if you are a fan of wildlife themed flicks, give it a try. Unsure? Well I'd wait for the DVD for a wet Sunday afternoon in then. -- Paul Heath, http://www.thehollywoodnews.com, July 2008.