Fehérlófia

Year: 1982
Director: Marcell Jankovics
Country: Hungary
Watched through: streaming
Also known as: Son of the White Mare, Son of the White Horse

The scenario: A beautiful white mare gives birth to a baby boy, then tells him a story about three curious princesses who unleashed hell upon the world, and were then trapped underground. Upon hearing this, the young boy becomes determined to rescue them. As soon as he is strong enough, he sets out on his quest. He is joined by two helpers, and the three of them work to save the captured princesses.

First impressions: Having read in Jerry Beck’s Animated Movie Guide that this is widely considered one of the best animated films of all time, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The fantasy and folklore elements sounded like my kind of thing, though, so I was overjoyed when I finally got the chance to watch it online. Upon seeing it, my first impression was just, like, wow. Though the story is based on a traditional folk tale, both the narrative and the visuals are highly experimental, and it literally defies comparison to any animated film I’ve seen.

Plot and story: In many ways, this is a straightforward Hero’s Journey tale: the young hero grows up far from civilization, sets out on his quest as an adult, gathers followers, obtains magical items, beats down all who stand in his path, wins the girl, etc. So, it’s a familiar tale but a well-told one, easy to follow but not sophomoric. I must confess, however, that I was confused by some parts. There’s a plethora of information thrown at the viewer in the first ten minutes, and I had to watch it several times to keep track of who was who in the story. Furthermore, there are some plot elements that I thought weren’t explained adequately. For example, what was that white glowing thing that freed the white mare in the beginning? Why did the queen turn into a mare in the first place? Why did she give birth to three sons who were identical to the sons she had before she was imprisoned? How did the first two sons survive from birth with no one to take care of them? I’m not trying to detract from the film by asking these questions; I’d love to know. If someone out there is more familiar with this film, or with the story it’s based on, could you lend me your savvy? 17/20

Characters: As with the archetypal story elements, we have archetypal characters. But, again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Each major character has a distinct personality that has a distinct effect on the story (as demonstrated best in the three scenes with the hungry goblin). The hero, Treeshaker, is our straight man, though he has a bit an anger issue. His two brothers, Stonecrumbler and Ironrubber, are more goofy and more suave, respectively. The three princesses have only one character trait each, as do the villains. So, we definitely have one-dimensional characters, but they work well within the framework of the story. 16/20

Voices: Well, they’re good, and that’s all I can say. Each voice is spot-on in bringing out the trait respective of each character, and all of them sound clear and genuine; not an awkward delivery among them. 18/20

Music: This is one of the ways the film is most obviously experimental. Many scenes use no music at all, which is pretty bold. There are also many sounds that are synchronized to actions which could be music or could be diegetic sound effects, depending on your point of view. While this is certainly interesting, and a great way to complicate the relationship between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, I didn't find it particularly appealing. 14/20

Visuals: The real star of the show, no matter which way you slice it. Every frame of this film could stand on display at the MoMA; expressionistic blocks of color, almost no black outlines, startlingly original character designs, sparse but beautiful backgrounds, and brilliant effects. The animation style is, to my knowledge, unique to this film. The closest comparison I could draw might be Te Wei’s Chinese watercolor animations (which this film matches in elegance) or perhaps Alexander Stitt’s limited cut-out animation (which uses color similarly). Overall, I think this is one of the only films I can honestly say has “eye-popping” animation, and the use of color alone makes this film worth seeing. 20/20

Overall grade: 85/100 (A-)