Coming to Irish cinemas is the award-winning Latvian animated film, Flow. Following a cat in a world sans humans, this cat has to survive as the waters rise, drowning what is left of the world. Along the way, the cat befriends several other animals including a labrador, a lemur, a capybara, and a secretarybird.
A seemingly simple premise of Flow belies something far more grand. This all stems from the charming animation of the film. The film’s art style is an acquired taste, the film is going for personality for the animation rather than full photo realism, which leads to something far more emotive and endearing. The animals are a motley crew, all misfits, and weirdos from their respective tribes.
The capybara owns the boat that they all find themselves on, the capybara is lazy but good-hearted. The lemur is a bit of a hoarder, always trying to find new items to enjoy, the secretarybird is a noble, but rude creature, and the labrador is a labrador. And they all have their relationship with the cat, all their interactions are thoroughly enjoyable. The research the team behind the film put in is impressive as each creature feels believable and genuine.
Do cats dream?
I thoroughly enjoyed Flow, the sweeping vistas and vibrant colours of the locales the motley crew would visit along their journey are utterly spellbinding. The monoliths and ruins that dot the world are fascinating and several locations lend to almost biblical locations, some akin to the ancient city of Babylon. This all lends to the theme of Flow being Noah’s ark without Noah.
All the animals are escaping a worldwide flood, each on a boat representing their species, save for our own merry band. Also, there are allusions to biblical moments such as a character being raptured. It’s all quite fascinating and with the no dialogue in the film, it allows for a lot of interpretation by the audience, which is a lot of fun.
The film also has a whimsical nature thanks to the score which compliments the lush visuals, it’s quite bubbly most of the time. There’s a playful element to the film, mainly due to how the animals interact with each other. Ultimately Flow is a brilliant film, that deserves the accolades that it has won along the way. If you get a chance bring the whole family to see it on the big screen, you won’t be disappointed.
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