Family: Films for the Young, and for the Young at Heart

The Eagle Huntress (Mongolia) – How to Train Your Eagle

The Eagle Huntress Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

For beautiful scenery, eagles, and sexism check out The Eagle Huntress. It’s the closest you’ll get to a real life version of How to Train Your Dragon. Plus you can watch it here on Amazon (free with Prime).

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Why Watch The Eagle Huntress?

If you love good documentaries
Experience nomadic life in Mongolia – complete with freezing winters
Learn how to catch, train, and hunt with an Eagle
To see a 13 year old girl beat a bunch of old men

The Breakdown

The Eagle Huntress starts with a montage of epic scenery shots. There’s the stunning snow capped mountains, the endless salt flats, and beautiful valleys. It’s a perfect opening for Mongolian tourism. However, one thing you might notice from the opening is the lack of humans and wildlife. Whilst it’s beautiful, this area isn’t made for human life. Winter temperatures often drop to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. The brutal landscape provides the perfect setting to demonstrate the strength of Aisholpan and her father.

Anyone that lives as a nomad in Mongolia has got to be pretty hardy. Therefore if any girl can train an eagle to compete against the men in the local tournament, it has got to be this girl who grew up in the bitter cold countryside watching her father train them.

You’ll be with her every step of the way to the eagle festival. First, you’ll see her father rebelliously train her up with his own eagle. Secondly, you’ll see him take her into the mountains to catch an eaglet of her own (not the best advertisement of animal rights). Then she manages to get her grandfather’s blessing to train her own eagle before she eventually enters the eagle competition. If you ever wanted to own your own bird of prey, here’s your chance to experience it.

Documentary or Drama?

Whilst this film looks like a documentary, it definitely plays up the gender narrative. Every time Aisholpan takes a new step with training the eagle the film cuts to a montage of old Mongolian/Kazakh men saying that a women’s place is in the kitchen.

The grumpy old men are edited into the film to highlight how Aisholpan is not welcome in this male-only tradition. However, none of the people she comes into contact with on camera with her eagle seem offended that she’s training an eagle (the judges of the festival, her grandfather, the other competitors). Instead, all of the controversy comes from shots edited into the documentary narrative. The director uses these shots to dramatise her ‘against-all-odds’ story.

In addition, the pop-idol style music that plays whenever Aisholpan overcomes an obstacle in her training and the English narration from Daisy Ridley take you out of the documentary intimacy and add to the drama. Whilst this is a documentary, it’s editing, music, and narration add unnecessary dramatic tension to the film which ultimately holds you back from fully immersing yourself in the film, whilst also making it feel more manufactured.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

Don’t be put off from watching this documentary based on the documentary or drama debate above as the narrative is still great (I just thought it was dramatised unnecessarily). Plus, The Eagle Huntress is worth watching for the incredible footage alone – some parts feel like another episode of Planet Earth.

If you love the girl-power vibe then I strongly recommend you check out both The Little Girl who Sold the Sun and Wadjda. The Little Girl who Sold the Sun features a young Senegalese girl who tries selling a local newspaper to support her blind mother. Wadjda features a young Saudi Arabian girl who fights for her right to ride a bicycle in a patriarchal society.

Or if you want to see another film where someone struggles to become something they want against all odds, check out The Orator. It features a little person from Samoa who is bullied by all the regular sized locals.

Liyana – Mythical Animation from eSwatini

Liyana Film Difficulty Ranking: 1

If you’re looking for a great children powered docu-animation from eSwatini (Swaziland) you’ve come to the right place. Liyana is both a universal children’s story that everyone can relate to or sympathise with and a film which uses a unique way of storytelling. It’s familiar and unique.

From: eSwatini, Africa
Watch: Trailer, Request a Screening
Next: Africa United, Song of the Sea, The Missing Picture

Big Fish and Begonia – China’s Answer to Studio Ghibli?

Big Fish and Begonia Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

When a film is described as a combination of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away you should pay attention. Visually Big Fish and Begonia deserves the recognition. It is China’s biggest animation of all time and definitely matches the scope of the biggest animation films from around the world. If you’re a fan of the art of animation, this is for you – just don’t pay too much attention to the storyline!

Why Watch Big Fish & Begonia?

You’re a big fan of animation and the fantasy worlds it can create
To see China’s biggest animation ever!
You like the films of Studio Ghibli (see Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) and Disney (The Little Mermaid)
For some strong allegories of the perils of global warming

The Breakdown

We don’t care about the important questions any more. This is how a narrator opens Big Fish and Begonia. We sleep, we commute, we work, we eat, we sleep, and before long, we die.

Unfortunately, the dreamy philosophical musings didn’t last long. Or at least, they got lost in the confusing story-line. Instead, you should focus on the incredible visuals and appreciate the sheer scope of the animation. It also matches the scope of the great Studio Ghibli and dominant Disney.

You’ll also notice the very strong allegories to the importance of mother nature and the threats of global warming (there’s human trees and great floods). In fact, with no evil villain, the imagery of global warming is the main threat to the human characters. Global warming and nature have been themes of many of Disney and Studio Ghibli’s films. s this a first in Chinese animation?

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Conclusion

You’ll see the strange creatures and beautiful landscapes you expect to find in Studio Ghibli films. You’ll also see the magical animals you often see in the Disney classics. However, unfortunately the story-line doesn’t match the beautiful visuals.

If you’re a fan of the art of animation you’ll appreciate this film but if you’re all about the storytelling you may find this hard to watch.

Anina (Uruguay) – A Whimsical Animation With A Unique School Punishment

Anina Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Do you miss the animations and story books you used to read as a kid? Anina will bring back your childhood with whimsical animation and a heart-warming story. If you have young ones or you’re young at heart, this one’s for you.

Why Watch Anina?

For anyone with kids, or your young at heart
To see it’s unique style which may remind you of a storybook
To hear the ‘worst names’ from Uruguay (Anina hates her name which is read the same forwards and backwards)
It’s here on YouTube (if you can understand Spanish)

The Breakdown

Anina starts at the end of a school day. Some parents are crowding round the entrance of the school waiting for their kids under their umbrellas. Some of the other kids are waiting at a bus stop nearby. It’s obvious who the protagonist is as she’s the only one with hair that stands out against the palette of grey, beige, and brown. Her hair is red and sticks out from her head. She’s Anina, our 10 year old protagonist.

You’ll notice the look of this animation is different to the Disney and Pixar films you’ve become used to. Firstly it’s 2D rather than the 3D used in most modern animation. Secondly, it’s uses a flat colour palette with no vibrant colours. As a result, Anina looks more like a children’s storybook rather than a vibrant Pixar film. This made it feel more whimsical and endearing.

One of my favourite stylistic moments occurs when she has a childhood memory. In the memory, the animation becomes even more basic than in the present: her facial expressions are less detailed and the background is plainer. It reflects the memories we all have, in which the detail is eroded by time.

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Conclusion

Like the best family films, Anina combines humour with a beautiful message about the family and friends. In addition, it’s unique animation evokes a nostalgia for children’s storybooks. If you’ve got young kids, or you still feel like a kid inside, Anina is worth a watch.

For more whimsical animation check out Song of the Sea by Tomm Moore. Also, no matter what age you are, watch Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki.