the very fine, even distinctively French nature 'documentary' Seasons has a point to make, but fitting for a film that's all about capturing animals in their habitat, it does so organically. Documentary is in quotes because its not exactly on the up and up. There are some special effects artists and actors listed in the credits. Some environments are clearly staged for the benefit of capturing (admittedly terrific) animal footage. So it doesn't quite pass the sniff test as a standard sort of surreptitiously captured footage nature documentary, but so what? What is here is hugely valuable and entertaining, there's footage of wildlife so intimate and genuinely delightful that I simply didn't care that about what was and what wasn't a setup. In fact, its even essential to the whole point of the thing that the animals have to be seen in certain situations. What makes Seasons so entertaining, and even affecting, is that its narrative is driven by the action on screen, and that it has a narrative at all really. There's some slightly discursive and philisophical narration that pops in on occasion, but its wider point about enviromental degredation over time is made more potent by the words left unsaid and the visuals that say them quite loudly.
I like the films that Laika makes, but Coraline aside (Paranorman was almost as good tho) I haven't loved any of their other films. Their technical virtuosity doesn't always match the ambition of their storytelling. Kubo and the Two Strings is their most technically advanced film yet, but also has the simplest story. Its sort of a standard issue fantasy adventure (boy goes on quest, magic shit happens along the way). Its certainly not any sort of cynical play for greater mainstream success, but it does feel a bit more rote, despite its relatively unique setting. Still worth seeing if only to drink in its extraordinarily high level of craftsmanship, but I wish that wasn't its by far strongest virtue.
