Anticipation.
An animated adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s beloved classic.
Enjoyment.
A heartfelt tale about coping of abandonment and how this leads to personal growth.
In Retrospect.
A film unlikely to escape the shadow cast over by its literary counterpart.
A young boy, Michael, and his dog are forced to grapple with the realities of isolation after he’s thrown from his family ship and stranded on a desert island. Compelled to come to terms with his harrowing situation, Michael is guided by the wise Kensuke, the island’s only human inhabitant.
Although separated by language Michael is taught by Kensuke the ways of the island and how to overcome hardship through a connection with nature. Neil Boyle’s debut animated feature, Kensuke’s Kingdom, relies more on mood and texture than it does dialogue to explore the characters’ intriguing backstories. Boyle conveys source author Michael Morpurgo’s strong environmentalist ethos, critiquing anthropocentric ideologies and exploring the value of all animal life.
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For the most part, the film replicates a realistic visual representation of reality, holding back from using animation as a compelling means of bringing the pages of Morpurgo’s classic to life. There are some harrowing experimental interludes which depict the Nagasaki bombing, communicating the tragedy of the event whilst remaining digestible for child audiences.
Remaining loyal to the source material, Boyle’s Kensuke’s Kingdom greets fans of the novel with a safe cinematic counterpart, using an animated format to re-explore Morpurgo’s environmental literature, remaining within the boundaries of the original narrative, arriving at set expectations and nothing more.
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