Nicostratos, le Pélican (2011)
Directed by Olivier Horlait

Film Review

After scripting one animal-themed comedy-drama, Sunny et l'éléphant (2007), Olivier Horlait makes his directing debut with another, adapted from Eric Boisset's popular novel Nicostratos le pélican.  Shot on location on the beautiful Greek islands in the Aegean, the film is visually stunning and will doubtless do much for the Greek tourist industry but its tepid, Disney-style approach to storytelling makes it far more suitable for children than an adult audience.  Even though it deals with some profound themes - a son coming to terms with the death of his mother, his attempts to build bridges with his distanced father and the upheavals of early adolescence -  the film feels slight and whimsical, content merely to coast along on the surface of a very deep ocean rather than delve more deeply into its murky depths.  It's a likeable but pretty average family film which ten-to-fourteen year-olds will enjoy and older spectators may warm to on account of its peculiar charm and some irresistible animal-themed humour.

Thibault Le Guellec is certainly engaging as the 'wild child' protagonist Yannis, who is more a watered down Antoine Doinel than the sweet picture of innocence you'd expect to find in a comparable Disney offering.  Needless to day, it is Le Guellec's scenes with the titular pelican that are the heart and soul of the film, funny and tender in equal measure.  These make an effective contrast with the boy's scenes with his brutal and emotionally repressed father, played to lugubrious perfection by Emir Kusturica, the most familiar face in the cast.  For an adult viewer, the boy's attempts to establish some kind of emotional rapport with his father are the most interesting part of the film, although Horlait underplays this, perhaps through fear of alienating his younger spectators.  The film's least successful element is Yannis' first experience with the opposite sex - this looks suspiciously like an afterthought and weakens an already overloaded narrative.  Despite some obvious shortcomings on both the writing and directing fronts, Nicostratos le pélican makes for a charming, low-key coming-of-age piece, its chief delights being its gorgeous cinematography and some inspired bouts of humour.  In what other film can you witness a merciless vendetta between a pelican and a goat?

Film Synopsis

Yannis is 14 and lives on an unspoiled Greek island with his father, with whom he has a close bond after the death of his mother.  On a trip to Athens, the boy comes to the rescue of a young pelican named Nicostratos and feels obliged to adopt him.   To avoid incurring his father's wrath, Yannis is forced to raise the bird in secret.  He soon becomes a local celebrity as Nicostratos makes the island a popular tourist attraction...