THE LEGEND OF OCHI – Review

Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson join Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”) and Helena Zengel (NEWS OF THE WORLD) in a fantasy tale that has one foot in myth and fairy tale and the other in the real world of the breathtaking, remote Carpathian Mountains and a human story of longing, loneliness and family, in director Isaiah Saxon’s THE LEGEND OF OCHI. The when and where of this fantasy tale is murky but the human feelings and the beauty of the natural world they move through is crystal clear.

In the rugged Carpathian Mountains, a teen girl named Yuri (German actress Helena Zengel from NEWS OF THE WORLD) lives in a remote, rural cabin with her father Maxim (Willem Dafoe), who has raised her alone since an early age. We first meet both father and daughter as Maxim, dressed in military gear that suggests WWI yet is vaguely medieval and armed with guns and knives, prepares to lead a group of men and boys into the dark forest to hunt dangerous, elusive creatures called Ochi. But the creatures they hunt do not look like the wolves and bears of the forest nor scary monsters, but more like a type of tree-dwelling snub-nosed monkey. The monkey-like little creatures are not what one expects to find in a central-eastern Europe forest, and what danger they pose is unclear although there is a touch of the GREMLINS (in the harmless version) to their appearance. But the girl’s father insists they are deadly and must be eliminated.

Yuri’s father is obsessed with the Ochi and his life revolves around hunting them. He spends his days in military-style training of a group of teen boys, including his adopted son Petro (Finn Wolfhard of “Stranger Things”), whom he leads on these hunts. Maxim is a loving father but exerts tight control on his daughter, smothering her with excessive protection. Yuri is starting to rebel, talking back to her father and slamming the door to her room, which is filled with heavy metal band posters. Out into the woods to escape her overbearing father, she comes across a wounded baby Ochi. Touched by the helpless, frightened creature, she helps it, and the discovery leads her to a quest to return the baby creature to it’s family.

THE LEGEND OF OCHI takes the form of a classic quest, as Yuri journeys to return the baby Ochi to its family, with her father Maxim, now donning armor that suggests a knight on his own quest, in pursuit, aided by Petro and the band of boys. That quest takes them through a Carpathian Mountain landscape that looks like something out of myth but is very real, as well as majestic, wild and beautiful.

THE LEGEND OF OCHI is an oddball film, with one foot in the real and one in myth, and packed with symbolism but grounded in human feelings and relationships. It is visually stunning, due to location shooting in Romania, and it is impressively inventive with its use of puppetry and practical effects rather than heavy reliance on CGI. It also features an outstanding cast led by Willem Dafoe, with the young German star of NEWS OF THE WORLD, Helena Zengel, as his and daughter, Finn Wolfhard of “Stranger Things” and the always excellent Emily Watson, as a mysterious figure in an isolated cabin, in supporting roles. At the same time, they drive old cars that suggest the Soviet Union era through that wild, natural landscape, and Maxim’s armor has the look of a mix of costume shop and hand-made, so it is not all fairy tale, but rather fairy tale played out in a real world.

The visual aspect is stunning. Shooting on location in Romania and using puppetry and practical effects instead of relying mostly on CGI gives THE LEGEND OF OCHI much of its appealing beauty and magic, aided by its strong cast. The story itself mixes fantasy and human realities, just as director Isaiah Saxon, in his first feature film, blends location shooting in Romania, puppetry and practical effects with some CGI in the latter part of the film. The light touch of CGI and more reliance on real objects and locations gives the film much of its appeal and strength. The first two-thirds of the film is shot this gorgeous natural world, before moving to a more CGI-created world of the Ochi.

Music plays a role too. The stunning mountain location photography is aided by a strange yet sometimes haunting score and the singing language that little creatures speak.

This is all catnip for children of a certain age and imagination. The tale of a quest, leaving home, of discovery and cross-species friendship, is perfect for ages 8-11 but some adult language and some weird dark humor might cause some parents to pause. On the other hand, this is no action film nor is it horror aimed at adults or older children. The story is framed in myth and symbolism but it is also something thoughtful about human connections, friendship, and longing, with a message about trying to understand what seems strange and “other” to us, whether it is another species or other people.

THE LEGEND OCHI is a film that is hard to categorize, and audiences will react to it’s unconventional nature in differing ways. It certainly deserves credit for being something different, not a sequel, a remake or simple formulaic entertainment. However, it does follow the path of the classic hero’s quest, so familiar to adult audiences but still magical for the young.

Whether you find this fantasy enchanting or disappointing might depend on what you expect. Action and adventure are in shorter supply than the sweep of nature and towering mountains, and a daughter trying to make her own discoveries as the father who has protected her struggles with his new role, but all that wrapped in a weird fantasy that is part grim reality. Late in the film, the father has followed his daughter and the baby Ochi to a river and a cave, still clad in his strange armor, but her defiance and willingness to go into the unknown where he can’t protect her leaves him in a quandary. At the water’s edge, he sheds his armor – literally. Yes, that kind of film.

THE LEGEND OF OCHI opens Friday, Apr. 25, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars