QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM BERLIN

The tale of Ran Bi Wa is based on an ancient legend by the Qiang people (an ethnic group of China). Ran Bi Wa is a monkey who was raised by humans. One day he’s sent on a mission. It would be too dangerous for a human, but he can do it. He needs to travel to the distant Holy Mountain in order “to uncover the secret of warmth”. Motivated to learn more about his own origins that seem to be tied to the Holy Mountain, he embarks on said journey. With him is his trusted friend Doggie, a friendly wolf.

The film utilises a style of animation that emulates Chinese ink wash painting. It’s an inspired idea to present an old Chinese legend in this way. But the execution is somewhat lacking. It often just looks like fairly generic watercolour paintings. There are a few, sparse genuinely breathtaking moments of animation though. Such as a sequence in which a series of famous paintings are used for a frame each to create a walking animation. There are some landscape shots and surprisingly dynamic action scenes too. But much of the film is kept very simple, with entirely black or white backgrounds and only character cutouts moving on the screen. Often they’re reusing animation too. Unfortunately in the case of A Story About Fire, the occasional moments of brilliance only highlight how mundane the majority of it looks.

This is not a movie suitable for children. It’s bloody and violent. Most of the first act revolves around Ran Bi Wa and Doggie learning to hunt. More specifically, Ran Bi Wa realises he can bludgeon animals to death with a stone. For a film that otherwise has a very cutesy look, it’s quite shocking to suddenly see its monkey protagonist split open the skull of an animal.

A Story About Fire has very little dialogue, and only the very occasional voiceover ofolder Ran Bi Wa telling us about his legend. A lazy storytelling tool, however this movie partly gets away with it due to its fairytale structure. But even with the narration, much of the story operates almost like a silent movie. There is some basic sound design, as well as a generically forgettable score. But the characters very rarely ever talk, instead relying on physicality to communicate character. There are many instances of physical comedy too. It’s hard to imagine a child being enraptured by the minimalistic images and quiet soundscape.

While some of the choices made in the creation of A Story About Fire make it hardly recognisable as a children’s movie, the writing makes it painfully obvious that it was designed as one. The jokes are very infantile. A recurring gag is that Doggie likes to eat snot. Director and writer Li Wenyu uses the same animation cycle in order to deliver the same punchline over and over again. Repetition is a problem with the film in general. Despite a very short runtime of only 75 mins, the first act in particular seems to move in circles.

Ultimately, this is a movie without much substance. A final narration over the credits spells out the extent of the thematic depth. Specifically, the lack thereof. It’s a film about the importance of having a best friend. Beyond that, the story is filled with clichés and highly conventional storytelling. Every beat is expected. Even the cool Ghibliesque monster that is the antagonist can’t rescue A Story About Fire from banality.

A Story about Fire premiered in the Generation Kplus of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.