‘Savages’ Review: Environmentalist Stop-Motion Gem Is a Potent Political Statement With Young Audiences in Mind
variety.comCarlos Aguilar A mother’s death set the stage for “My Life as a Zucchini,” the heartsore 2016 Swiss stop-motion that landed director Claude Barras an Oscar nomination for best animated feature.
Now, the passing of a different maternal figure at the hands of unscrupulous men ignites the filmmaker’s eco-conscious, anti-colonial follow-up “Savages.” When a female orangutan is killed by loggers on the Indonesian island of Borneo, 11-year-old Kéria (Babette De Coster) and her father Mutang (Benoît Poelvoorde) adopt her adorable offspring and name it Oshi.
Kéria becomes immediately protective of the young ape. “Savages” deems those willing to enact such violence against other living creatures as uncivilized brutes, destroying the Earth for money while Indigenous peoples live in accordance with age-old principles of coexistence with nature.
A musical number in Disney’s “Pocahontas” (coincidentally, and appropriately, also titled “Savages”) contrasted the same notions.
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