The Legend of Ochi
Cast Willem Dafoe, Finn Wolfhard, Helena Zengel
Writer and Director: Isaiah Saxxon
Set on the magical island of Carpathia in a remote village. A young girl named Yuri(Helena Zengel) has been told by her family and father Maxim(William Dafoe) to fear and hunt a certain species of creatures called Ochi. After finding one of their young wounded. Yuri sets out on a quest to return them to it’s family.
The Legend of Ochi is one of those fantasy adventure movies that feels very much like it came from the 80’s. This belongs in the same sphere as Labyrinth, The Never Ending Story, Return to Oz, The Last Unicorn and Legend. Just to name a few. It’s a tad upsetting that this movie wasn’t released at the time because it would have done good business. Well maybe not in theaters but certainly on home video. It would throughout the years gain a cult following. Enough for there to be 5 different versions of the movie, including a Japanese dub where at the end, spoiler alert. Ochi teams up with Godzilla and they tear it up all across Tokyo. Now in 2025,a major studio like A24 has come in and is releasing a remake and here we are.
The look of the film from cinematographer, Evan Prosofsky feels very much like a classic story book with illustrations. It is colorful fantastic world that is unlike our own but still very familiar too. The Ochi uses sounds and music to communicate their feelings and the wonderful score by David Longstreth definitely taps into your emotions when watching this film. It’s one of the best and does deserve recognition come award season.
Being that this essentially a children’s film. The actors treat the material and their characters as real people and while the movie does show some suspense and tension at times. This isn’t a movie you need to shield your kids eyes from watching. William Dafoe does a great job as the somewhat overbearing father who thinks he is doing the right thing by fighting these creatures he know very little about. Finn Wolfhard is good in his brief role as the brother of Yuri. Emily Watson does excellent work as their estranged mother who left when Yuri was very little. Helena Zengel as our lead character does excellent work and it will be exciting to see what other projects they work on.
At a brisk 90 mins, The Legend of Ochi is a must watch for fans of classic children fairy tales. Some may argue that the plot is too simple and basic. Well kids don’t need to have a complex plot for their entertainment and neither do most adults either. This was a very delightful movie.
I'm a proud member of the Minnesota Film Critics Association. Read my bio below.
I agree it felt like an 80's fantasy film. That was one of the better things about it, but I was disappointed as a whole. The characters needed richer stories.
ReplyDelete