"Old Fangs" is an Irish English-language animated short film from 2009, so this one will have its 10th anniversary soon. The writer and director is Adrien Merigeau and he is known for working (in minor position) on two recent Oscar-nominated films from Ireland and thus among the ones responsible for the Green Country's boom in animation. So you could indeed be curious about what he comes up with with as the man in charge here, even if he had a co-writer admittedly. And it is a pretty good outcome. The "hurdle" I am talking about in the title of my review is the animation style that many may find unappealing (the characters, but also for example the yellow-red inside of the father's house that may have looked simple, but totally achieved what it was going for, namely depicting how unpleasant of a place it is, not just for the son, but also for the father) and I must admit that it also took me a couple minutes to get used to it, which is of course critical in such a short film. But when I did, all was good and I really enjoyed the watch. It was all handled convincingly in terms of the story. The fact that he is friends with a pig shows that the 3 are longing for harmony and humanity, even if they are animals. They have developed into socially functioning characters. And the friendship with the fox stands for exactly the same as there is not only no intention to eat the pig, but also no rivalry or competition. The strong opposite is the main character's father who still operates by his brutal bloody instincts as we see in the last third of the film and I am somewhat glad he didn't kill the pig either. I guess seeing the deer only once makes it much easier to deal with that scene. But this scene also shows that it really is a film for grown-ups and the perfect example of an animated (non-Japanese) film that is not only not for both young and old, but really only for adults.
I also liked the flashback scenes with the mother and the way in which the wolf is running back then and in the now is really an interesting parallel. I personally could have done without the big wolf's crying scene towards he end as his aggression involving his son's return and his inability to show his real feelings are depicted perfectly by the killing and the fact that the photo still hangs in his house. With that crying shot near the end they sacrificed a bit of subtlety which really wasn't necessary as this film shines particularly in that area. But it's not bad or anything, just not as good as the rest and one of very few moments that kept the film from becoming something even greater. It's a bit of a pity that the summary here on IMDb spoils a bit the fact that he goes to see his dad and it wasn't clear for quite a while throughout the first minutes before they arrive at the house.'And it was a long journey, so we can be curious where he was heading as it must have been important for him to go. On a side-note, his 2 friends coming with him also says a lot about how strong the 3 stick together in bad times too. I am also surprised that the film apparently scored so little awards attention only if IMDb is correct. So yes it is under-appreciated, but you can help that it does not stay underseen either. Go check it out. It is really easy to find. I certainly give it a thumbs-up and it is more of a defining father-son movie than you initially think. A great watch. I highly recommend it because of its amazing attention to detail.
I also liked the flashback scenes with the mother and the way in which the wolf is running back then and in the now is really an interesting parallel. I personally could have done without the big wolf's crying scene towards he end as his aggression involving his son's return and his inability to show his real feelings are depicted perfectly by the killing and the fact that the photo still hangs in his house. With that crying shot near the end they sacrificed a bit of subtlety which really wasn't necessary as this film shines particularly in that area. But it's not bad or anything, just not as good as the rest and one of very few moments that kept the film from becoming something even greater. It's a bit of a pity that the summary here on IMDb spoils a bit the fact that he goes to see his dad and it wasn't clear for quite a while throughout the first minutes before they arrive at the house.'And it was a long journey, so we can be curious where he was heading as it must have been important for him to go. On a side-note, his 2 friends coming with him also says a lot about how strong the 3 stick together in bad times too. I am also surprised that the film apparently scored so little awards attention only if IMDb is correct. So yes it is under-appreciated, but you can help that it does not stay underseen either. Go check it out. It is really easy to find. I certainly give it a thumbs-up and it is more of a defining father-son movie than you initially think. A great watch. I highly recommend it because of its amazing attention to detail.
