Flow

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

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The Latvian auteur Gints Zilbalodis (“Away”) executes another beautifully rendered animated film in “Flow,” a stirring, affectionate, and dynamic film that has the intensity of “Watership Down.” Colorful and engaging, this film clearly underscores the drama of the natural world.

A black cat with orange eyes is left in a landscape without human beings. After encounters with various animals, the unknown cat leaps onto a field thick with foliage only to discover giant statuesque cats. The monuments are gigantic and fetishistic akin to a feline cult.

The landscape is suddenly plunged into water and the cat is left to swim for survival. The cat encounters a boat helmed by an orange-brown capybara and a lemur.

Again and again, the cat escapes within inches of life with a secretary bird overseeing the pathos and conflict.

Periodically the watery realms are edged with Greek and Italian landscapes all devoid of human inhabitants. The wonder and magnificence displayed owes something to Maxfield Parrish.

With elements of suspense and science fiction, with echoes of “Waterworld” (1995), survival in this aquatic realm is dangerous and existential with no swift solutions. The cat’s condition is universal, and infinite faced with rising sea levels. To the film’s credit, the story clearly illustrates the occult truth of non-human intelligence. All creatures live by drive, experience and deep emotion, only the communication and expressions are different. Humans would do well to recognize this.

Write Ian at ianfree11@yahoo.com