‘The Legend of Ochi’ movie review: Sweet, simple, stunning dive into the meaning of life

Helena Zengel in a scene from ‘The Legend of Ochi’

The Legend of Ochi, Isaiah Saxon’s feature film debut, which he has also written, is a simple story, marvelously told with a breathtaking mix of location-shooting, puppetry, animatronics, computer animation and matte paintings. The fantasy film uses a whimsical palette to tell its tale of acceptance and family.

Yuri (Helena Zengel) is a lonely girl living on a farm in the Carpathian Mountains with her father, Maxim (Willem Dafoe). Though Yuri misses her mother, Dasha (Emily Watson), Maxim insists she left them, and it is no use Yuri trying to find her. After his parents’ death, Petro (Finn Wolfhard) also stays with them. Yuri has always been told to stay home at night, away from the Ochi, the vicious beasts of the jungle laying waste to people and livestock alike.

Maxim trains the boys of the village to be clever hunters of the Ochi. When Yuri finds a baby Ochi with its leg in a trap, she decides to take it back to its people. Along the way, there are dangers and discoveries aplenty, including a bite getting infected. Maxim does not want to believe Yuri left of her own accord, preferring to believe she was taken by the Ochi and mounts a rescue for his daughter.

Shot on location in Transylvania, The Legend of Ochi makes one want to grab a plane, hare it to the Apuseni Mountains, and count stars by the Bâlea Lake, a glacier lake in Central Romania. Dasha’s cottage, which looks foreboding and enigmatic, proves to be a refuge for Yuri and the Ochi and also where she learns of her roots.

As Maxim puts on his ridiculous helmet and armour, one thinks of Don Quixote and tilting against the windmills. Dafoe is a master at creating these damaged characters, with an altered sense of reality, while Watson is her competent self as the wise woman of the woods. Wolfhard does not have much to do except silently stand and absorb everything with his big, dark eyes.

Willem Dafoe, left, and Finn Wolfhard in a scene from ‘The Legend of Ochi’

The visual effects and puppet work (seven performers worked on the baby Ochi) are outstanding. The sequence at the supermarket, out of which Yuri and the Ochi break out dramatically on a shopping trolley, is a fun one. The majestic mountains, the still lakes, the lonely sheep and solitary cars puttering away on narrow mountain roads all contribute to the fairytale feeling of a land time forgot. Saxon — who has directed music videos for Icelandic singer Björk and American rockers Grizzly Bear — uses music and silence effectively in The Legend of Ochi, making it that rare beast, a quiet children’s film!

The Legend of Ochi is currently running in theatres