THE FOX AND THE CHILD (U)

2:42pm Thursday 7th August 2008

Family/Drama. Bertille Noel-Bruneau, with narration by Kate Winslet. Director: Luc Jacquet.

Luc Jacquet, director of the Oscar-winning March Of The Penguins, heads for sunnier climes in this family feature, which blurs the line separating wildlife documentary from sentimental drama.

Inspired by the filmmaker's bucolic childhood, The Fox And The Child is a visually stunning homage to changing seasons in a woodland community and the delicate balance between man and nature.

The production spent six months in the Retord plateau and Abruzzes National Park in Italy. The voiceover provides a direct link between the stunning imagery, with young actress Bertille Noel-Bruneau as the pint-sized villager who learns to her cost that some creatures can never be tamed. The freckled, red-haired tyke merrily traipses along her usual route until a bend in the path where she spies a fox.

Enchanted by the majestic creature, the girl arrogantly decides to impose herself on this untouched wilderness.

The meddlesome attempts to domesticate the fox, with truly horrific and bloody consequences that will probably upset very young viewers (and most parents too).

The Fox And The Child is blessed with gorgeous cinematography and a haunting orchestral score but the flimsy storyline struggles to hold our interest for 94 minutes - it's quite repetitive and some of the voiceover could be cut entirely.