Directed by: Gints Zilbalodis
Written by: Gints Zilbalodis and Matiss Kaza
Runtime: 84 minutes
‘Flow’: This touching and unique animated tale splashes tidal waves of wonder and washes away conventions
“In ‘Flow’, I wanted to imagine what would happen if a solitary character was confronted by a group of curious outsiders, there to both support and challenge him.” - Director Gints Zilbalodis
Zilbalodis’ lead actor - the solitary character - is a cat, a black cat with gold eyes, and this four-legged star stars in an animated tale.
We don’t know his name, so let’s call him Cat. However, in Cat’s touching and wondrous 84-minute big-screen odyssey, no one addresses him in English, Latvian (Zilbalodis is from Latvia), or any other human-spoken language.
Cat meows, growls, chirps, and purrs, and Zilbalodis, director of animation Leo Silly Pelissier, and sound designer Gurwal Coic-Gallas thoughtfully capture feline movements and sounds. So much so that if Silly Pelissier, Coic-Gallas, and other crew aren’t “cat people”, they certainly fooled this devoted cat dad. Cat’s everyday behaviors (like stretching, grooming, climbing, gingerly prancing, accelerating to a full sprint, and more) and nuanced voice inflections look and sound perfect, respectively, and will bring smiles to audience members whose houses are run by their own pint-sized furry friends.
Cat doesn’t break into “Hakuna Matata” or any other song and dance. Cat doesn’t state his age for the audience. Instead, he behaves like a healthy and nimble 3-year-old feline living in an isolated, abandoned, spacious, and orderly home - except for the broken window on the second floor – that sits in the middle of a forest. During the day, he explores the woodland territories, looking for food and attempting to stay out of trouble while dodging elk herds, a pack of five dogs, and other potential dangers.
Zilbalodis establishes Cat as a loner who survives without anyone’s help.
However, for this black cat, today isn’t his lucky day. No one else is fortunate, either. Without warning, a cataclysmic flood pours over grasses, rocks, and soon trees. Cat’s home is no longer a safe haven, as the uninvited liquid guest slowly rises on the property.
He’s run out of higher ground, forced to seek help, and work with others.
The others are a relaxed capybara (a large rodent native to South America), a friendly yellow Labrador, an OCD lemur, and a proud secretary bird. The five find each other through happenstance or fate and travel by an obvious mode of transportation when water covers their immediate habitat.
Zilbalodis and Matiss Kaza’s screenplay offers distinct personalities for this unlikely quintet, which creates on-screen conflicts. Still, the animals appeal to each other’s sensibilities and needs as they bond over their collective fear of this predicament. Before the flood, each character functions in their little corner of the world, but they are compelled to cope with their current surroundings without knowing the reasons for their stressful circumstances.
Did a dam break? Is it global warming? Did a tsunami arise? Zilbalodis doesn’t specify the reason but shows us the catastrophic consequences. Cat, Capybara, Dog, Lemur, and Secretary Bird don’t know either, and the innocence and helplessness of the animal world feel comparable to the movie audience and the rest of the 8.2 billion people on the planet.
What can one person do to combat global warming or a changing environment? Or five people? Individual people are helpless too, but this fivesome isn’t reading stark headlines on their smartphones, as “Flow” splashes into our connection to animals and our sympathies for this on-screen collective.
Speaking of human beings, none appear within the frame during the first act, and this critic will not reveal if they appear during the second and third. Indeed, the script includes evidence that people walked the Earth, including Cat’s home with elegant cat sculptures placed in the front yard. (Again, cat people had to make this movie.)
Where are they? It’s not explicated stated, but the film gives a clue very early in the first act with the casual placement of a man-made object sitting in a tree.
When Cat and company embark on their journey, they encounter wondrous sites made by civilizations and Mother Nature. The sites are spiritual, soothing, and awe-inspiring. They have a Machu Picchu-like quality, so perhaps – due to the capybara’s origin - South America is the locale or another world altogether.
However, this is not a luxury cruise. Several sequences of tangible, visceral tension fill the screen as “camera movements” hover and race at our hero’s height while following him on steep climbs and overwhelming plunges in treacherous waters. Generally speaking, cats hate water, but Cat doesn’t have the option to opt out of several swims.
The extraordinary, complex, and ever-changing environments surrounding our new companions astound while Zilbalodis and composer Rihards Zalupe accompany them with gorgeous melodies that are playful, thrilling, and mystical, depending on the moment.
The animated animals have straightforward looks without intricate details, but their expressions and personalities are authentic and nuanced. These characters ring true, and we always know their feelings.
Zilbalodis captivates us into his unexpected, unconventional canvas from beginning to end. “Flow” delivers astonishing moments that capture the genuine meaning of friendship and will surely elicit theatres full of watery eyes. This movie is beautiful. Bring tissues.
Jeff’s ranking
4/4 stars
