Long Way North film review ★★★★★

A doomed voyage to the North Pole and a search for the lost ship. It sounds like the kind of plot that Werner Herzog might concoct. But no. In fact, it’s the starting point for Rémi Chayé’s directorial debut Long Way North, a heart-warming family animation.

The Davai is a legendary nineteenth century vessel, under the command of the similarly mythic captain Oloukine. Unfortunately, its journey to the Arctic has proved ill-fated, and the ship can’t be found. That’s where our intrepid hero comes in. Sacha is Oloukine’s granddaughter, a fifteen year old aristocrat who believes she knows where to find it, trading a palace in St Petersburg for a perilous sea voyage.

It’s a defiantly uncomplicated plot, equal parts quest and cinematic bildungsroman . There are touches of Studio Ghibli, but more in theme than style. Where the Tokyo studio favours ultra-detailed graphics, this French-Danish production is much less elaborate. There’ll be those who find the animation style amateurish and overly simple, but we think it’s charmingly naïve, and deceptively masterful; some of those landscapes display a mastery of light usually reserved for Impressionist canvases (OK, slight exaggeration.)

The film is far from perfect; it’s overly twee at points and the dialogue a little flat. But thankfully, it’s so good-hearted that these faults are easily forgiven. It's a promising start for Chayé and, who knows, with Ghibli suspending production, perhaps it’s a new hope for quality animation.