After enduring the icy arctic climate to bring us March of the Penguins, French director Luc Jacquet decides to warm up the screen with the unlikely friendship of two fiery redheads; one an inquisitive fox, the other a cute freckled girl by the name of L’enfant (Bertille Noël-Bruneau). The inclusion of the latter sees this would-be animal documentary turn into something of a children’s fairytale. But in its hybrid state, The Fox and the Child falls shy of being either a captivating tale for kids or an enlightening documentary for adults.

Without much in the way of dialogue (which is lucky considering what there is has been poorly dubbed), Jacquet hires the maternal voice of Kate Winslet to narrate as L’enfant, the film’s only human character. Spoken like a bedtime story, she recounts the day she first encountered the fox on her way home from school.”My heart was beating flat out, he was so cute!” she enunciates after slowly approaching the fox, only for it to flee into the depths of the forest. L’enfant starts to obsess over the fox during the coming months, patiently waiting each day for it to re-emerge in the hope of eventually taming it.

But it’s the patience the audience, especially the kids, that is tested the most. Jacquet spends far too long building up the trust between L’enfant and the fox, drawing undue attention to the one-dimensional nature of the narrative. It’s a shame considering their relationship is initially well constructed, with clever back-to-back edits making it seem as though the two are genuinely observing each other. But what starts off  convincingly quickly turns fanciful once the two grow closer, ultimately  undermining the film’s credibility as a documentary.

For this reason, The Fox and the Child is at its most engaging when the human element to the story is momentarily cast aside.  Eric Dumage and Gérard Simon’s superb cinematography follows the fox as it battles the harsh winter, making every use of the luscious French forest backdrop to beautifully frame their shots. What action there is has been captured with great dramatic splendour; one scene where the fox is being chased by a Lynx is as thrilling as a Hollywood car chase.

Yet without the Attenborough-styled voiceover reasoning the fox’s behaviour to the audience, little is to be learned about the true nature of the animal. What we’re given in its place is a rudimentary lesson about possession, where L’enfant attempts to put a leash on “her” fox only to see it break into a panic. It’s the underlying message of ‘what’s wild should stay wild’ that Jacquet himself should consider next time he attempts to tame such vivid wildlife footage within an unsubstantial humanistic narrative.

Verdict:

Whilst heart-warming at times, The Fox and the Child is essentially an art house film aimed at kids who would much rather be watching a more adventurous and exciting animation at their local multiplex. Even for adults, the stunning cinematography can only mask the story’s monotony for so long.

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