JP Nunez
If you read my review of The Primevals, you know I love stop-motion animation. I practically grew up on it, so it holds a very special place in my heart. It’s hands down my favorite style of animation, and I’m always up for a movie that uses it. So naturally, when I first heard about Mother Land, I knew I had to review this film. It’s a fantasy adventure brought to life by stop-motion animation, so I couldn’t wait to watch it. I eagerly pressed play on my screener as soon as I could, and after checking it out, I’m happy to report that this movie was everything I wanted it to be and then some.
Mother Land was written and directed by Park Jae-beom, and it stars Kang Gil-woo, Kim Seo-young, Kim Ye-eun, and Lee Yun-ji. It’s set in the Siberian tundra, and it follows Krisha, a girl who belongs to an indigenous tribe of reindeer herders called the Yates. When the film begins, her life seems pretty normal, but that all changes when her mother comes down with a mysterious illness. The family consults a shaman for advice, and he says the only way they can cure her is by going to an ancient forest and seeking its guardian, a huge red bear with glowing eyes.
After the shaman leaves, Krisha’s father says the creature is only a myth, so he forgoes the holy man’s advice and travels to the city to get some medicine. In contrast, Krisha believes wholeheartedly in this mythical being, so she takes the shaman’s words to heart and goes in search of the bear. At the same time, a pair of hunters search for the guardian so they can kill it and prove it’s just an animal, and their journey ends up colliding with Krisha’s in an amazing and unexpected way.
From that brief plot synopsis, you might expect Mother Land to be just another religion vs. science or ancient wisdom vs. modern technology story, but you’d only be partially right. It does give that impression at first, but once Krisha meets the great red bear, the film changes gears and becomes so much more.
I’m obviously not going to spoil anything, but suffice it to say, the supernatural and religious elements aren’t the real point of the movie. They’re simply the medium, but the message is much deeper than just “tradition is awesome.” At its core, Mother Land is about love, accepting your lot in life, and our need to respect both modern innovations and traditional wisdom. It’s a heartwarming message that also brings some much-needed balance to a world that seems to grow more obstinately partisan by the day, so the film will feed your heart, mind, and soul in a way too few movies today can.
All that being said, a movie can’t get by on its message alone. It also needs a good story to embody that message, and thankfully, Mother Land absolutely knocks it out of the park on that front as well. For starters, the characters here are all super likable. At 69 minutes, the film admittedly can’t flesh them out too much, but it makes the most of every second it has.
Krisha and her family feel like real people going through real problems, so they’re instantly likable. To take just one example, when the movie begins, Krisha and her brother Kolya have the kind of love/hate relationship young siblings are notorious for, so you can’t help but smile at their antics.
Little touches of realism like that will make you fall in love with these people almost immediately, and your attachment to them will only grow as the story progresses. You’ll care deeply about what happens to them, and that connection with the characters gives their story a strong emotional foundation.
On top of that, like I said before, Mother Land also has some excellent twists and turns you almost certainly won’t see coming. It’s not the stereotypical religion vs. science story it appears to be at first, so it’ll keep you on your toes as you anxiously wait to find out where it’ll go next.
Last but not least, we have to talk about the animation. The stop-motion work here is gorgeous, and both the puppets and the sets are beautifully designed. However, I did have one small issue with this element of the film. As great as it is, it’s not quite as smooth as more mainstream stop-motion animated movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas or ParaNorman. It’s a tiny bit clunkier, and at times it even reminded me of the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special.
But if I’m being honest, that’s really more of a nitpick than anything else. In fact, it actually gives Mother Land a unique charm that its more polished counterparts don’t possess, so on the whole, I’d say that this technical flaw isn’t actually a problem. Sure, I noticed it, and as a critic, I feel like I should point it out, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the film at all.
So at the end of the day, I’m happy to report that I had an amazing time watching Mother Land. Like I said, it’s everything I wanted it to be and then some. It has likable characters, excellent stop-motion animation, a great message, and an engaging story that kept me on my toes. As of this writing, it’s the best movie I’ve seen so far at Fantasia, so if you get the chance to check it out when it gets a general release, I highly recommend that you do.
Mother Land played at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 30.
