Kirikou And The Sorceress (Animated) (DVD)

...good and not violent. Kirikou seemed perfect, and it was.

Let me tell you why.

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The movie and book entitled "Kirikou and the Sorceress" (written and directed by Michel Ocelot) is based on an African folktale (A Senegalese friend of mine tells me it's from Senegal!). It is the story of a tiny little boy who delivers himself alone from his mother's womb and a very ...
...and the women's gold, and Kirikou sets out to fight the sorceress and free his village.

I don't really want to give away too much of the story, as this would ruin it for anyone who wishes to see it, but I will recount why I have chosen this as the first movie for my son to watch.

The film starts thus:

Kirikou's mother is lying down, her back against the wall, heavily pregnant and a voice inside her says:
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I have a son who will be 5 in about 3 weeks. You are going to think that I am mad (well, I am actually) but I have never allowed him to watch television.

(Actually I must be wise. I am madly wise I think!)

"Allow" is a big word. I have never switched the television on for him sounds more appropriate. I myself don't watch any TV, only very rarely to see the news (I usually check the internet daily for news) or a specific movie or program I have been told about.

In any case, my sister gave Orlando (my son) a book entitled "Kirikou et la Sorcière" (Kirikou and the Sorceress) a while back, not forgetting to mention that the movie was fantastic. I enjoyed reading the story and so did Orlando.

Three weeks ago, I decided it was time to introduce my son to the world of movies, and I wanted it to be something very good and not violent. Kirikou seemed perfect, and it was.

Let me tell you why.

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The movie and book entitled "Kirikou and the Sorceress" (written and directed by Michel Ocelot) is based on an African folktale (A Senegalese friend of mine tells me it's from Senegal!). It is the story of a tiny little boy who delivers himself alone from his mother's womb and a very quick resume of the story is that the village he is born in is under the curse of a wicked witch or sorceress (Karaba) who has taken away all the village's men and the women's gold, and Kirikou sets out to fight the sorceress and free his village.

I don't really want to give away too much of the story, as this would ruin it for anyone who wishes to see it, but I will recount why I have chosen this as the first movie for my son to watch.

The film starts thus:

Kirikou's mother is lying down, her back against the wall, heavily pregnant and a voice inside her says:

"Mother, bring me into the world"

To which she replies:

"A child who speaks from the inside of his mother can bring himself into the world"

And so he does. Then continues:

"My name is Kirikou. Mother! Wash me!"

"A child who brings himself into the world, can wash himself"

Of course, Kirikou complies.

Then he starts asking his mother many questions, to which she responds very calmly.

She is a very calm woman (I envy her) and helps her son throughout.

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From there, Kirikou starts his epic journey to save his village but… shshsh….

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I do watch movies, I am rather picky about what I will watch next and totally critical about movies directed at children.

I used to look after children for years and watched all the Disney movies, amongst others, and found many things I did not agree with:

I hate fearless heroes, they become a child's ridiculous ideal in a world where fear is necessary to gain true confidence and proper insight into one's world. I had no heroes as a child and my only "heroes" nowadays are a few musicians and writers and "everyday" people. But as a rule, I don't like the word "hero".

Have you ever noticed that in most Disney movies, the "good guys" all have American accents and the "bad guys" usually have a British, Hispanic, German or some other foreign accent? My son is extremely sensitive to different accents (we speak 4 languages) and notices these things straight away. What are we saying to kids here?

I think fantasy is fantastic (how very original!) and essential, but I also think that a child's mind needs to be fed carefully and not crammed with over the top tales of extreme heroes who perform deeds that are more often than not impossible to carry out in "real" life. A child will almost inevitably want to copy his or her "hero's" actions, and an infallible character can almost make a child feel unworthy.

I seem to be exaggerating, but it is amazing how influenced a child can be by these films. I am aware of many new children's movies whose "good" characters do have some shortcomings, and I look forward to "studying" them before showing them to my son.

Having said this, Kirikou does get up to some feats which are… extraordinary, but due to his minute size, he carries them out easily, although he often needs some help.

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What I like about Kirikou is that, as the story unfolds, we are presented with a tiny child with unusual bravery, who manages to retain human attributes. He is easy to relate to and he is very cute.

He admits that he feels lonely and scared sometimes. He has no magical powers, simply a sharp and witty intelligence which eventually prevails over the witch's wickedness. His curiosity is typical of what society likes to call a "hyperactive" child.

There are times when he feels lost and not sure what to do. There are times when his physical strength is just too insignificant but his quick thinking saves the day. He asks thousands of questions and listens to the answers. He does not know everything and there are times when he is sad.

Yes, he does get up to many heroic acts, some of which, let's be frank, are not very feasible, but he manages to retain his sensitive human essence throughout. None of his heroic acts are carried out without some difficulty and there is a little message in that. In fact the whole story is full of little messages.

He is a character children and adults alike can relate to.

The other children in the village do not like him and refuse to play with him because of his size, which they often make fun of, even though he saves their lives more than once. The other villagers often criticise him because he dares to challenge the witch and they are simply too terrorised and prefer to go by her rules.

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What I really liked about the whole film is first of all, its setting. A very simple and very colourful African village, where the children roam naked and the women wear a simple long sort of sarong (I am sure it has another name, but I don't know it) with their breasts bare.

The colours are remarkable, most of the background animation is digital but very well done. There are a few special effects but nothing extravagant. The simplicity of it all is rather refreshing, and the depiction of nature is marvellous.

Whenever they are happy, the villagers just break out into song and dance, and you find yourself almost doing the same. The songs are easy to learn and well… I have had to re-enact many scenes from the movie with dance, songs and all for my son. I think I am ready to join the theatre.

One of the characters "The Wiseman of the Mountain" (who happens to be Kirikou's grandfather) has a short but essential role in the story. He lives on the other side of the "forbidden mountain", a place Karaba the Sorceress allows no one to reach, and he explains things as they really are, whilst Karaba wants the villagers to remain ignorant so she can still control and terrorise them.

Kirikou manages to reach him and the Wiseman reveals to him the real reason for Karaba's wickedness. Pain. She has a thorn that was lodged in her back very profoundly by evil people, which makes her suffer day and night and also bestows her magical powers on her. I think this is a significant metaphor.

Anyway, I said I would not reveal too much of the story, but the Wiseman also says a few sentences to Kirikou, which are indeed very wise and which adults should heed, and children also of course…

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All in all, Kirikou and the Sorceress is a very human story, recounted in an innocent and easy to sympathise with manner. There is no violence but a lot of action and you will not get bored. It has a simple but important moral message to deliver and it does so in a most charming way.

The character of Kirikou is that of a playful, curious, very intelligent and brave little boy, who will stop at nothing to save his village. And the ending of the story is quite unusual but superb. He does not kill the Sorceress, but I will not tell you what he does to her….

I could say more but I am going to have to learn to keep these reviews shorter.

Kirikou can be rented from most DVD and VHS rental companies, I rented mine from the internet and ended up buying the DVD from e-bay for £4.99.

The VHS costs £5.99 from amazon, the DVD costs £19.99 from amazon as well, which I find quite pricey, but I am sure you can find it cheaper from their used section or e-bay, as I did.

The DVD I bought allows you to watch it both in French and English. I prefer the voices on the French version, but perhaps this is just because I watched it in French the first 3,459 times!

My son has fallen in love with Kirikou and has adopted his name, when people ask him what his name is, I reply first because I know he will contradict me:

"Orlando" (polite smile) "His name is Orlando"

"NO!" "My name is Kirikou!"

"Bless you son… bless you…."

What always follows is an embarrassing explanation of the profound reasons for which my son refuses to abide by his legally given name…

People always seem to eye me with a look that says: "I wonder which one of the two is the liar?!"

 

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