Review: A Story About Fire burns bright, fast

I'm a dog person, and I always have been. So I'm an easy target for a "boy and his dog" movie. I love them. I fear them, because their endings are often tragic. (Why do dogs live such short lives? It isn't fair!) Li Wenyu's A Story About Fire falls pretty neatly into the category, although the boy is a monkey named Ran Bi Wa and the dog is a wolf named Doggie. 

Loosely based on an ancient Qiang myth, A Story About Fire tells a simple tale about a monkey and his wolf buddy as they go on a quest to the Holy Mountain. The monkey was born there, then brought to live amongst humans by a woman whose dying words left an air of mystery hanging over the distant peak. It seems there's something there that can cause the cold to go away, an alluring prospect for a world that is covered in snow.

I love them

Once Ran Bi Wa is old enough, he's charged with undergoing the mission himself, even though all those who went before him failed to return. He's worried, but also determined, because who doesn't want to learn about their origins? The mystical source of warmth is maybe just a bonus.

So he and Doggie set out on a treacherous quest, one that involves lots of obstacles, battles, and, yeah, a little fun, too. This is a pair that is immediately easy to root for. They're adorable characters, Ran Bi Wa with his big expressive eyes, Doggie with his long, pointed snoot. When they're shown from a distance, they become even cuter, arguably, with great cartoon physics and timing, great physical comedy. I felt like I was spending time with the silly but heroic duo from a beloved children's book I had forgotten. Although the violence, complete with lots of bloodshed, perhaps precludes this rendition of the tale from being mistaken for a children's story.

The film unfolds over eight brief chapters, which cut between Ran Bi Wa's journey, as well as that of a woman who's also on her way to the mountain. It keeps feeling like the two characters are moments away from meeting each other, but never quite do. In time, all is revealed, and the structure snaps more clearly into place. There isn't a lot of meat on the bones narratively, or even thematically, so that little air of mystery/intrigue does a nice job of helping to keep your interest and pull you along. A bit confoundingly, the final chapter unfurls over the film's credits, which make the ending feel abrupt and then protracted. It's a misstep, as the content of that final chapter is arguably the richest thematically, pondering the way legends are passed down and changed, who is forgotten in the flow of time. But at least it's there.

And honestly, my narrative squabbles here almost feel like a moot point. The first thing you'll notice about this movie is that it is visually stunning. It employs a gorgeous Chinese ink-blot animation technique, giving the proceedings such a rich texture, and sort of underlining the ancient origins of the story. The early chapters are quite monochromatic, white and grey and black as the characters trudge through the snow to the warmth of the mountain. More and more color seeps in as they get closer to their goal, and there are a couple fun breaks in style, where stones or paper become the media of choice.

When a movie looks this good, the style can sometimes be enough to pull me through, or even to earn the movie a recommendation. That would've been the case here, for sure. A Story About Fire is pretty short, an easy watch, so stimulating to look at. But thankfully, this doesn't need to just coast on its animation. The story may not be lighting you on fire (hehe), but it's certainly of enough interest to earn this extra marks beyond its gorgeous presentation. Watching two adorable friends look out for each other while they're on a great adventure...yeah, that's the good stuff.

A Story About Fire is screening as part of Poland's Animator Festival next week, and will have its North American premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival later this month.