The most famous animatonic ever is perhaps that of Et – the extraterrestrialcreated by Carlo Rambaldi in 1982. These are robots that can move independently, scheduled to carry out certain interactions with the surrounding world. Certainly are the ancestors of the special effects we know today: now intangible and always made with a computer. Seeing them in business feeds the nostalgia effect of which contemporary cinema feeds on. The eighties have been returned for some time, as the series suggests Stranger Things. A new piece is added by The Legend of Ochi by Isaiah Saxon.
Ochi are creatures of the woods. Men hunt them, believe they are fierce monsters. It is a war. But a girl goes against the current. He runs into a puppy, takes care of him and decides to bring him back to his mother, unleashing hell. The baby is a particularly successful animatronic, direct descendant of ET (one scene seems to pay homage to the legendary “home telephone”), of The Goonies by Richard Donner, and aligned with the aesthetics of the Gremlins (here in an angelic and non -demonic key) by Joe Dante. The Legend of Ochi He then recalls a distant but incredibly close imagination. And it turns out to be a surprise in an era of bombastic and often meaningless images. He wonders about language, about the encounter between different cultures, about the need to dialogue.
Once again the struggle is between man and nature, the intent is also ecologist. In a brumosa atmosphere, suspended between the fairy tale and the nightmare. The setting is transversal, different generations are asked. The little ones have fun with an unusual friend (and some shiver), the big ones embrace a now ancient cinema with melancholy. And here is the strength of The Legend of Ochi: It is a bridge between past and present. It is out of time, but also modern.
Saxon gives life to an alien, a hybrid, which finds its identity playing in the decades. There is no shortage of smiles (Willem Dafoe dressed as a leader, Emily Watson listening Will be by Franco Simone despite the film is set in a village close to the Black Sea), and also a few tears worthy of the Feel Good Movie For families. For Saxon it is the debut behind the camera, and the hope is that you continue to follow this road without distorting.
