‘The Legend Of Ochi’: Sundance Review

Dir/scr: Isaiah Saxon. US. 2024. 95mins 

A simplistic however affecting fable, The Legend Of Ochi luxuriates in its old style method to live-action fantasy filmmaking, incorporating matte work and puppetry to inform the story of an adolescent who befriends a uncommon, supposedly harmful animal, finally discovering a like-minded spirit. Music-video director Isaiah Saxon’s characteristic debut typically wobbles when balancing its impish sense of humour with darker tone, however finally, the image’s peculiarity turns into a part of its appeal — as tough to withstand as that lovable titular critter.

The image’s peculiarity turns into a part of its appeal

Suitably programmed as a part of Sundance’s Household Matinee part, the movie is about for a UK launch in March earlier than opening within the US in April. Supporting gamers Emily Watson and Willem Dafoe will assist elevate The Legend Of Ochi’s profile, however there isn’t any denying the image’s proudly unusual, anti-mainstream sensibility. In consequence, crossover theatrical success may very well be a problem, though the betting is that artistically-minded younger viewers will latch onto Saxon’s bighearted whimsy. 

On the distant Black Sea island of Carpathia, Yuri (Helena Zengel) and her impressionable adopted brother Petro (an underused Finn Wolfhard) are warned by her warlike father Maxim (Dafoe) that they have to be perpetually on excessive alert for the presence of the Ochi, an unique primate breed that threatens their security. However after Yuri meets an injured child Ochi within the forest, she decides these creatures should not as bloodthirsty as her dad warned, and decides to take the newborn again to its house.

Saxon, who has directed movies for musicians equivalent to Bjork and Panda Bear, lends this journey a hand-crafted, artisanal high quality. David Longstreth’s rating, which contains flutes and strings, means to conjure up recollections of bygone fantasy household movies, whereas Evan Prosofsky’s cinematography, with its emphasis on eerie fog and simmering daylight, provides the Romanian locales the texture of a mystical realm reduce off from the true world. Though CG is utilised, sensible results dominate, and Saxon works with puppeteers to convey the Ochi to life. The creature design is very inviting, and the Ochi’s fuzzy orange fur, powder-blue faces and expressive darkish eyes are immediately hanging. 

These with fond recollections of Eighties-era live-action fantasy footage — to not point out E.T. The Further-Terrestrial’s heartwarming bond between Elliott and the alien — can be inclined to Saxon’s nostalgic technique. Sick of the aggressively masculine world during which she finds herself — and eager for her mom Dasha (Watson), who fled her husband Maxim way back — Yuri sees on this little Ochi not an enemy however a fellow misfit. Adults and doubtless even youngsters will be capable of predict this ethical of this quest narrative, however the endearing rapport between Zengel and the creature makes the lesson go down straightforward.

With Saxon including to the fairytale high quality by combining matte work with clever particular results, The Legend Of Ochi is transporting and earnest, but additionally often wryly amusing. The soft-spoken Yuri is a fan of demise metallic, whereas Maxim enjoys dressing up in cartoonish armour when he summons Petro and his legion of boy troopers to trace down his daughter and kill the Ochi. The tone can veer between quirky and sinister, and Saxon’s screenplay is at its weakest when he tries for slapstick humour. 

Dafoe nails his function as a cheekily over-the-top villain, taking part in Maxim extra as a loud buffoon than as a very menacing determine. Likewise, Watson is all maternal heat and mild grace as Yuri’s long-lost mom. However a lot of The Legend Of Ochi rests on Zengel’s shoulders — or, extra precisely, her calm, timeless countenance. Most likely greatest recognized for the 2020 Western Information Of The World, the actress radiates a stillness and composure that counsel the lonely, resourceful Yani is sensible past her years — and happier to throw her lot in with the misunderstood Ochi relatively than additional tolerating her father’s blustering intolerance.