Sunday, July 3, 2022

The Tale of the Fox review (slight spoilers)

The Story of the Fox (1937) - IMDb

Another great story, especially one that has been passed down from the Middle Ages (with some alternative versions, of course), that remains relevant, especially in today's social and political climate. First, there's the cunning and conniving fox, named Reynard, who lies, deceives and murders his way to ensure his survival, as well as his family's; a greedy, arrogantly-blind, and controlling king who tries to ensure that peace and prosperity spreads throughout the kingdom despite his constant short-comings and failures in preventing crime, especially those committed by Reynard the fox; last but not least, the people of the king's land who blame the fox, even using him as a scapegoat, for their misfortune and woes, while at the same time depending on the king to solve the problems that can't always be fixed by authoritarians, even authority-figures and governments in general, especially those started by said authoritarians who try to fix the problems they started and only serve to bite them in the ass and cost them their influence to the people in the end. Underneath the story's edgy humor and cartoon slapstick is a political commentary on authoritarian figures such as the monarchy and the church, even a critique on the noble class and the justice system, including many other problems that embroiled the social and political climate of Medieval society. Anyway, what makes this film great is not just that it took 10 years to make or that this film was co-directed by Ladislas Starevich and his daughter Irene, but that the animation is phenomenal. I highly recommend this film, especially if you like stop-motion animation, and a hilarious but very important and relevant story with characters who are anything but noble.

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