The Legend of Ochi is a breath of fresh air in a market flooded with saccharine, spoonfed-plots, and unnaturally colorful family films. A24’s new family film is a “my child’s first art film’ introduction to a beautifully told story that rings with mythical tones.
Yuri is a quiet, young girl in a small village on Carpathia, a remote island. Yuri is raised by her single father, Maxim. Yuri and her foster brother Petro, are trained with the other village boys to protect the village and hunt the “dangerous” Ochi, the fabled creatures that live in the forest beyond the village.
During a night hunt with Maxim and the boys, they confront a pack of Ochi. In the mayhem that follows, Yuri finds a baby Ochi. The baby Ochi has been separated from its mother. Yuri hides the baby Ochi and brings it back home.
Having been separated from her own mother at a young age, Yuri feels connected to the baby Ochi and empathizes with its plight.
Yuri decides to run away and search for the baby Ochi’s family. Can Yuri get the baby Ochi back to its mother without leading Maxim and his hunting party to the heart of the Ochi?
The Legend of Ochi is a stunning feature-length film debut from director/writer Isaiah Saxon. Known previously for a portfolio full of artistic music videos, Saxon’s first feature is ambitious to say the least. It is obvious from the first few minutes that this is a very different family film. Saxon has faith that the film’s audience will be engaged, imaginative, and compassionate.
Saxon sets the stage with a loose script and lets the actors embellish with their expressions and gestures. Helena Zengel brings a determination and earnestness to Yuri that draws you in. Willem Defoe brings an underlying lovingness to Yuri’s militaristic and religiously zealous father that makes you understand that he believes he is doing everything out of love.
The dialogue is sparse. Only the briefest of explanations are given, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks with their own imaginations. What happened between Yuri’s parents? How did Yuri’s mom end up with a wooden hand? And most importantly, how did humans come to fear the Ochi? Saxon alludes to answers, never fully explaining anything, leaving enough room for the audience to fill in the blanks with their own ideas and stories.
The Ochi themselves are amazing. Saxon made a conscious decision to use puppets and animatronics for the Ochi and no CGI. He is upholding the tradition that storytellers like Jim Henson and Frank Oz upheld. To have a physical puppet on set, interacting with the other actors, makes the creature character real. We saw it with The Muppets and it has been proven more recently with Grogu from The Mandalorian. The audience connects and invests in the puppet. It is physical and tangible. With the right design and puppeteers, it comes to life.
Saxon even says, “When you do something handmade, the imperfections become charming.” I find that in most cases when I see digital creatures, my brain never really lets go that I am looking at something artificial (the exception to that rule always being Golem from LOTR). The love and care that Legend of Ochi’s creature team poured into the Ochi character shows.
While the story of a lost child/creature/alien being rescued by a young hero and being taken back to their people is not a new tale, it’s how the story is told that makes the difference.
I can feel that The Legend of Ochi is a labor of love.
It took several years from start to finish to bring Saxon’s passionate vision to the big screen. Saxon’s name is all over the credits. Not just the writing to directing, he was also involved in the early design of Ochi and the painting of matte paintings. He was also heavily involved in the music; Saxon’s involvement crystallizes his vision. The team melds the location shoots from rural Romania with the painstakingly built sets. It all contributes to a natural world that makes Carpathia seem otherworldly.
This level of care in creating another world with the use of minimal CGI harkens, for me, to Henson’s The Dark Crystal and Ridley Scott’s Legend.
The score infuses the film with an old European folktale vibe. Saxon and composer David Longstreth were inspired by a 1930s flute master named Fanica Luca. While traveling Romania location scouting, they discovered Radu Nechifor who has carried on the tradition of Luca’s music. Playing antique flutes, Nechifor’s performance became the foundation to the soundtrack for the film, imbuing it with an authentic old world feel.
The film is more than just a kids’ movie. It examines themes about the environment and colonialism. Whose land is it, the humans or the Ochi? Can they live in harmony?
The filmmakers hope that The Legend of Ochi is not only entertaining for young and older viewers alike, but that it will initiate great conversation long after the house lights have come up. It’s definitely a film I will be sharing with my family and friends.
* * * * * *
Produced by Richard Peete, Traci Carlson,
Isaiah Saxon, Jonathan Wang
Written and Directed by Isaiah Saxon
Starring Helena Zengel, Finn Wolfhard,
Emily Watson, Willem Dafoe
You must be logged in to post a comment Login