Wolf Children
It’s the story of Hana, a university student when we meet her. She sits in a lecture hall, distracted by a thin, handsome man named Kare. Very soon, the audience is gently eased in to the loving relationship between these two. In fact, we are with Hana when Kare tells her that he is a wolf. (Not a werewolf that transforms only on the full moon – he can change into the actual animal any time he likes while retaining human reason but adopting wolfish instinct.)
Their spirited daughter Yuki, whose birth, childhood, and adolescence play out through the rest of the film, tells the entire story in tender retrospect. Their son Ame is a year younger, and the next 12 years chronicle the family’s difficult journey while Hana raises her children as a single mother. Above all, Wolf Children is a story about parenting and what it means to be a mother in increasingly divisive circumstances.
Hana is a fantastic mother. At some point, we all probably wished we had a mother just like her – a woman who absolutely puts her needs last in the interest of her children. Early in the film, when she realizes their crowded city home in Tokyo isn’t the best place to raise half-wolf children, she asks both of them what they would most like to be: a human or a wolf. Hana resolves to take them to the country, where they can decide for themselves.
Aside from the obvious human/wolf dichotomy, Hosoda impressively juxtaposes city and country. It’s not hard to see how the pairs are analogous. But what’s interesting is his representation of rural Japan, which pervades the latter three quarters of the film. While cities have a tendency to sprawl and mankind the inclination to wipe out nature, this same nature makes life very difficult for Hana in the country. Wildlife constantly encroaches on her meager vegetable garden, which is a necessity in hard financial times. The weather is unforgiving, and the work is harder than she ever expected. It’s wonderful when the film’s supernatural element brushes with this realistic lifestyle.
The backgrounds are beautifully rendered, overflowing with detail, sometimes moving so that the film feels like a live-action movie. The movements of the characters are authentic, too – they way they walk, gesture, even the way their hair moves in the wind – all lend an air of detailed realism to moments that are completely fantastic.
Other aspects of the characters’ aesthetic are firmly unrealistic, however. For instance, Hosoda’s film still feels like an anime because emotion is largely expressed only through the shapes of characters’ eyes and mouths rather than, say, use of wrinkles around the eyes, mouths, and nose. The skin is flat and plastic-like, and the wolf forms of the children are heavily anthropomorphized so that they look more like cute, stuffed animals rather than living creatures.
I’m not saying these are bad aspects of the film or that the style is inconsistent with the aforementioned realism. On the contrary, I think these fantastic aspects of both the story and look of the movie nicely balance the realistic ones. The beauty of Hosoda’s work becomes obvious in the harmony he achieves between the dualities he explores – man and animal, city and country, real and unreal. Anime is the perfect medium for this exploration.
There’s a moment of beauty early on when the family adjusts to life in their new (old) house. When they first see it, the place is dilapidated and needs much work. But it isn’t long before a series of contemplative shots show Hana taking time to appreciate how exquisite their home actually is. The greenery of nature is blurred through carved, intricate designs in the windowpanes, and sunlight glistens on the colorful stonework of a sink bottom. These quiet moments amplify the emotion throughout the film.
Regrettably, Hosoda relies on montages to gloss over some of the events in the life of the family. Sure, the movie takes place over 13 years, and these montages are adequate for depicting Hana’s pregnancy or the family’s adjustment to life in the country…but I’ve just always considered them a passive form of storytelling. Simply put, these “summarizing scenes” remove the audience from the heart of the filmic action.
On the flipside, however, I’d be remiss not to mention Takagi Masakatsu’s outstanding score; it plays during these and other key scenes, and it’s the perfect example of downright beauty in Wolf Children. It is effervescent, tender, suitably subtle at times, and very pretty. It oozes with feeling and seems to complement the understated emotion in the Japanese vocal performances, which are top-notch.
Admittedly, I always watch anime with the English dub. Too often, English voice actors just don’t get it right, so I’m ecstatic to say that the English language direction and performances are also top-notch (with the exception of the wolf man, who I thought sounded a little too Christian-Bale-Batman-esque).
Kare, the wolf man, really isn’t in the movie all that long, though, and I’d say the English track is worth a listen every bit as much as the original Japanese. The primary distinction between the two is this: the English performances are expressive, full of emotion and nostalgia while the Japanese voices are subdued. It’s kind of an excellent example of the difference between eastern and western sensibilities. So, experience both. The movie is amazing enough to watch twice.
It’s always fantastic to watch anime in HD, and Funimation’s Blu-ray release of Wolf Children is no exception. In particular, the exceptional artistry of the backgrounds is wonderful to gaze on. Whether you’re looking at an overhead shot of Christmastime in Tokyo or an autumnal landscape in the Japanese countryside, prepare to be blown away. At one point, we see a celestial shot of the night sky as the earth turns… The picture is beautiful, OK? It’s beautiful and pristine.
The audio 5.1 surround tracks, in both English and Japanese, sound clear and authentic. The quiet moments, as well as the unquiet, find the right level of sound to convey the desired atmosphere. Once again, listening to Masakatsu’s score is a joy, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t fill your house or apartment with it. The sound mixing on both tracks also comes through very nicely, accomplishing just what the directors intended; both the ambient sounds and the vocal performances balance nicely, coming through the rear and side speakers just fine.
It is extremely rare for me to say this, but I just didn’t want this movie to end – and that never happens anymore, not with anything – well maybe with some TV shows, but that’s about it. You know that feeling of wonderful pain, when you glance at the time counter on your Blu-ray player and realize with sinking dread that it will end very soon and you will have to return to reality? That’s what you have here with Wolf Children. In fact, I don’t care if you’re an anime person or not, you should watch this movie for the story alone. Mamoru Hosoda’s film is surprisingly accessible, and his international acclaim is wholly deserved.
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