Reviewer:
Carousel rider
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August 2, 2020
Subject:
The king and the bird (in French, Spanish subtitles)
This twist on Hans Christian Andersen’s story of the shepherdess and the chimney sweep will delight for its skillful combining of Medieval motifs with Brave New World technology. One’s sense of time and reality is challenged. It has the elements of a good story, such as brave humans and animals, bad guys, archvillain, and narrow escapes. The land where the king reigns is devoid of green, being a mass of elaborately conceived edifices, which take the shape of towers, palaces, dungeons, all accessed by space-age elevators. Humble peasants live in the “lower city,” while the king and his henchmen occupy elaborately conceived quarters endowed with numerous trap doors for the king to dispose of anyone who displeases him. The story’s hero is a loquacious bird, with little birdies alongside, and there is a friendly dog who, although part of the king’s entourage, is available to help the good guys.