jpantsios

A beautifully realized animated film about, on a simplistic level, a child, who, by his wits, saves his village from the evil sorceress, Karaba. But it's much more than that, if we pay attention. For the question the child, Kirikou, keeps asking is, "Why is Karaba so mean and evil?" It is the answer to that question, and Kirikou's response, that lifts this film above the ordinary. It also has a great sound track by Youssou N'Dour. Unfortunately, it's not an easy film to find, so if it it ever turns up on a station near you, make sure your VCR is ready.

It's interesting that whether people liked or disliked this film seems to vary depending on whether it was seen in the original Russian, or the English version. It's NOT based on Sinbad, but on Russian folktales.

Did anyone else notice the similarities to "Alexander Nevsky"? Specifically, the hero gathering a band of stalwart Russians (mostly drawn from the peasant or working classes) to defeat a ruling elite. There seemed to be many cinematic homages to Eisenstein as well.