Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

The Legend Of Ochi 

This is one of A24’s best looking films they have ever put out and if you love the Goonies and E.T this film is the studio’s homage to 80’s childhood classics in many ways. Now I remember seeing the trailer for this film a while back and when I saw Willem Dafoe in fighting amor and hunting a strange alien I was like okay this is going to be quite the interesting film. But what really compelled me to check it out was the amazing cinematography I saw within the trailer along with the wholesome quality to the story it seemed to have which really grabbed my attention. As the film is about not judging something at first glance, friendship, torn family’s and trying to mend relationships that may of been broken along with self identity. The Legend Of The Ochi may not be for everyone but I think it will for sure become a classic film for children that will become this generations ET. 

Firstly, Now this film is one of the most breathtaking visual films I have seen all year! The way this film was made is magical as the locations they used to surround this story in feels like it a real life fantasy tale come to life! It was all shot on location and some people complained that they thought it used Artificial intelligence to generate some of the images but it was all done through the camera and the sheer stunning landscapes of where they shot the film. The film Is in many ways as I said pays homage to classic films of the 80’s more specifically E.T which you can see a lot of similarities to As this film is about a daughter who is very quiet ever since her mom left and since her father is the sole caretaker of her has to live with eccentric ways around the house which to most people is pretty abnormal. When she comes across this small creature she herself identifies  with it due to feeling misunderstood and standoffish in nature so she has to get it to gain her trust and needs to bring it back home and that journey to bringing this creature back to it’s family leads them to discover more things about themselves along the way. It is a fantasy film in many respects from A24 which is rare as they have never done a childlike wonder film before and the reason why I enjoyed this film as much as I did is it gives that magical spark you saw in early 90’s late 80’s films that had that youthful innocence but also had deeper themes that you picked up on once you got older but at the same time told you valuable life lessons kids could still appreciate. The film is not trying to be something it isn’t as It is about as mentioned family and knowing who you are at a time in your life when your growing up and still trying to figure out your place in this world. The film also uses old school puppetry which is not really done these days in an era of CGI and everything being done on a computer it is so cool to see A24 go back to the roots of old fashioned movie magic when bringing these creatures to life as their is a certain charm to it being done the way they used to be presented that just makes it that more enjoyable. The way the story tackles all the heavy themes through the kids eyes while Also not just being a retread of what we have seen before is the film’s biggest strength. As the film is not a big scale blockbuster it is a smaller film that I know barley had any promotion to it which is unfortunate I do think this film will appeal to people in their 20’s and younger audiences as the kids who grew up with these films will find the charm in it but also younger audiences will fall in love with that little creature and they many characters surrounding this story. The film has fantastic style and a great visual language when telling this specific story but the lore of the creatures the way it was all crafted on paper and brought to life was greatly done. 

Secondly, The performances from the cast was great but if I am being honest with myself Willem Dafoe steals the show! Now no disrespect to the other actors that worked endlessly to give a good performance like the child that we follow the whole film I thought she did a decent job but the clear standout in my mind was very much Willem Dafoe for his take on a dad who lost his mind right after his wife left him and how he goes about dealing with that in his own way. Willem Dafoe once again plays this role so perfectly as he is a man loosing his mind since the loss of his wife and Dafoe goes into the mind of that man and explores the psychological inner workings of how he cracked In many ways. The rest of the cast does a great job but it is very clear that Dafoe Is the clear scene stealer of this film! 

Lastly, The Legend Of The Ochi is one of the most visually stunning films of the year with a beautiful score, great use of practical effects and mind blowing use of puppetry that I haven’t seen in a film in a while! The film is a callback to fantasy films of the 80’s and 90’s that has a very whimsical look to the frame while also still breaking down serious themes that young kids can learn from and also for young adults and older audiences to be moved by. The Legend Of The Ochi is a film that honours films of the past while giving familiar tones to films of this genre and giving a fresh take on it without it feeling like a retread of what we have seen before. This is a visual feast for the eyes and one of the most whimsical films of the year I hope people do go check out as it was not given much time in theatres sadly I recommended people go see this film. 

The film centres on a young girl that encounters a strange creature that was separated from her family and must bring it home 

Rated PG : Smoking|A Bloody Image|Some Language|Thematic Elements|Violent Content

Willem Dafoe : Dafoe once again gives another solid turn with his performance in the Legend Of The Ochi! Now he has been giving some of the finest work of his career with his films in this decade and here he once again gives another solid turn as the eccentric father who in many ways has lost his grip on what is important in his life and reality. The film revolves around these creatures as we are told about early on and he thinks they took his wife and that is why she is gone and ever since he has made it his mission to trap them and go after them so he has a personal vendetta against them and what they are. He goes on these hunts and puts traps around all over the forrest to make sure on day He can make then Pay for the pain and suffering they have caused him. Now having Dafoe play this role is kind of perfect as he is able to fit the centric nature of what the father is going through while also pulling the dramatic weight and hardship he goes through with his amazing ability to deconstruct this character and have the audience fully understand him. As he could have easily just made this person be a goofy over the top character that has little to no depth but he makes the guy emotionally hard hitting at times with who he is. We see that their is a disconnect he has with his daughter and he also has been running a operation where he smartens boys up to become “men” and wise beyond his years and tries to whip them into shape of the man he is now and you can see their is a resentment with his daughter as he clearly wanted her to turn out the way the boys have but due to his discipline ways of parenting he has created more and more of a distance between them. He has created this false reality of essentially play he thinks for his daughter but it is in no way entertaining even slightly for her and Dafoe is able to show that disciplined mindset towards his kid with a no nonsense attitude to them in such an engaging way but at the same time you can see in his eyes later on that he has done damage to his relationship to his kid when she discovers the truth about her mother and how her father told her things about her mom. He just wants to give his kid a good childhood but went about it the entirely wrong way. Dafoe shows that heartbroken tender side to this man’s personality later on as he comes to the realization of what he has done to his daughter by creating this rift between them and how she wants her dad to be a proper father not whatever it is he has thought he should act and to start listening more. Dafoe plays it in such a great way that your intrigued what got him to crack and we see the answers to that along with the resolution he has with his kid to and he gives once again another truly fantastic performance of a father that looses his grip after his wife walked out on him and how he went about parenting when she left. It is a performance of his I feel is not getting talked about enough I think he did a exceptional Job and is among some of his best work this decade for sure it is another soldi turn from Willem Dafoe playing this maddening father looking for his daughter and he lights up the screen with great charismatic energy. 

Isaiah Saxon : This guy did a phenomenal job for a first time director! This man has no prior credits to his name no short films nothing this being his first stab at directing he did a solid job! He wrote directed and produced this film and he as you can probably tell is a huge fan of films from the 80’s and 90’s as I mentioned already has the homage to E.T., The Goonies and you can see the influence they had on this film for sure. The film though is very much its own thing as he sucks you into the world it is set in the moment it starts through the great visuals at play and the sheer beautiful music that is woven through each frame. He was able to craft a coming of age tale told through the lens of fantasy and from the perspective of this young girl who is having a very tough time connecting with her father and to a extent her brother too so she feels like a alien in her own house in many ways. When she connects with this small creature we see her soften and discover more of how to tap into her feelings because she is spending time with something that is not quick to judgement and is taking the time to understand her. Isaiah captures the sheer wonderment of the setting we are brought into and the sheer fun mythic quality of the creatures and he makes you feel like a kid again their is a child like wonder to the film that is hard not to smile when watching the film. The only issue I would say their is aside from the lead and Dafoe’s character all the other supporting roles kind of fall into the background and are not fleshed out that much which is the only flaw I would say this film has in terms of narrative structure. It also is able to teach great lifer lessons for kids to pick up on and for adults to appreciate as I have mentioned a few times as it’s true some of the best films that are geared towards younger audiences usually have a mature lens on things that help younger ones learn about the world through a more softer but still mature approach of filmmaking which this film does. I loved the old fashioned style of filmmaking when it came to the puppetry and the sense of fun it has throughout the film it is a film that has you soaking up each frame and he really did a great job at harking back to the old fantasy films I and many grew up watching and capturing that for a new generation. Overall I think Isaiah Saxon for a first time filmmaker did a tremendous job and I am so excited to see what he does next.