A KINGDOM OF RICHES
If you think that a survivor story on film about a boy and his dog battling the odds and a myriad of dangers will only keep you interested and involved if it looks rugged and realistic, is fueled by a rarely stopping barrage of heart-stopping chills and thrills, tragedy and terror, with a manipulative, predictable plot — think again. Kensuke‘s Kingdom is captivating without overdoing any of those usual attention-grabbers of intensity. This is no slam-bang affair; it’s not a roller coaster ride. In fact, it’s gentle. It moves at a relatively slow pace. After the first few scenes with the boy and his family sailing the (eventually stormy) sea, the youngster meets the title character, but talking doesn’t carry the day. Kensuke only knows Japanese and the boy speaks only English. Fortunately, screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce (adapting the same-named novel by Michael Morpurgo) didn’t feel the necessity to have the kid (also named Michael) talk to himself or the dog to fill up the soundtrack with verbiage – except when an important thought or observation seemed to need a few words.
A viewer can be touched by the tale and be aware of what the people and animals feel via non-verbal clues— all this works gracefully and with ease, which is especially impressive for an animated film! Well, to step back from the precipice of hyperbole, let’s agree that the movie may be moving, but absent live-action flesh-and-blood actors we can’t fully suspend our disbelief and get wrapped up in the story, feeling things viscerally when the visuals are simple two-dimensional drawings. But the humanity, tenderness, and feelings an audience can identify with shine through.
Let’s rewind: The scenes in the beginning are the least involving and the least sophisticated. At first, the minimalism and economy in the spoken lines and actions and plain drawings may not draw you in unless you knew what was ahead: a thoughtfully spun storyline with rich visuals of the wonders of Nature and the eye-filling details of Kensuke’s self-designed, self-constructed island home. The early moments in the film could risk giving the false impression of a bland, low-budget cartoon about a grumpy but otherwise pleasant pre-adolescent, his older sister, and their strict but patient parents taking a trip on a ship with the dog on deck.
The style of art that’s a nostalgic throwback to the plainer style of hand-drawn animation proves to be as refreshing as the salty ocean breeze. Wade through the story’s calm waters setting up the adventure to come when the plot, thankfully, thickens. First, there are discussions about Michael being too young to do more than swabbing the deck and gazing at the ocean from a safe distance, attached to a safety belt, with his beloved pet dog locked up for her own safety. Safe to say, things pick up when the storm picks up and a wave picks up the child and his pet when they land in the ocean and dry land is what they must seek.
Michael and Stella the dog end up on the island, dazed, amazed, with their hopes raised for surviving when fresh water and food appears by their side mysteriously and miraculously. Their sympathetic but wary benefactor is, of course, the resourceful man, Kensuke: the island’s sole resident, who has made the island his “kingdom,” caring for a group of orangutans after escaping the aftermath of America’s World War II bombing the city he lived in, back in Japan. His history is indicated in his drawings and a photo of the family he indicates as having been killed.
Gradually, the man and boy learn to communicate and help each other when there’s a series of troubles and an injury for each. Their gradually growing mutual respect and closeness is the heart of the movie. Teen-aged actor Aaron MacGregor voices and characterizes Michael with an unforced sense of wonder and purpose, not overplaying the cute card or seeming too foolishly fearless in the risky plights and perils. Bringing life to the Japanese gent – with so very few words but a caring tone of voice and gravitas — is Ken Watanabe whose varied credits before Kensuke’s Kingdom include time spent in another kingdom, playing the imposing monarch in a Broadway revival of The King and I.
Especially remarkable, too, is the achievement of telegraphing so much specific emotion when the animal characters utter the slightest sound and it’s accompanied by the artists’ and animators’ realistic small movements and the looks in their eyes. The baby orangutan is adorable, whimpering, worrying, and clinging. Such attention to these elements keeps our attention. Along the way, the settings creatively add appeal as they are alternately delicate or dynamic, seesawing between minimalist and majestic landscapes. All the above is enhanced and ideally matched by Stuart Hancock’s exciting and colorful musical score.
Co-directors Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry have shaped a lovely, loving, heartfelt tale that can be enjoyed by children younger than Michael’s age and older than the age of his unexpected substitute parent.
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Lupus Films
84 minutes | 2024
to find screenings, visit kensukes kingdom
