Who Is Afraid of the Wolf

Colour, 35 mm
Czech Republic, 2008, 90 min
Section: Variety Critics’ Choice

Synopsis

Cleverly riffing on Little Red Riding Hood, this charming drama for all ages looks at serious family matters from the perspective of a 6-year-old girl. Wondrously inventive and supplemented by director (and prizewinning animator) Prochazkova’s lush, color-saturated visuals, this Prague-set tale centers on sensitive moppet Terezka (Dorotka Dedkova), who becomes obsessed with whether her mother is really her mother, little suspecting the altogether different secret surrounding her parentage. On one level, the pic skillfully shows the world as it seems to impressionable youngsters who rely on TV and their own not entirely rational observations for explanations. Yet on another, it plays perfectly to adults who pick up on the love triangle between the mother and two men — one of whom reps safety and routine, and the other the lure of unfulfilled ambition.