A Hunting Lesson

Based on a book by Jacques Godbout, this National Film Board of Canada animated tale tells the story of 10-year-old Antoine, whose curiosity gets him inside the door of the home of a newly arrived recluse rumored to be a big game hunter. Eyeballing the trophy heads mounted on the walls, Antoine expresses his desire to "kill wild animals too," prompting his neighbor to take the boy on an outing in which he learns that hunting is not only serious business, but also questionable as a recreational activity (the hunter had a change of heart when, after killing a baboon, he watched its companions scramble down from a tree and carry the body away in funereal procession). While Antoine's epiphanic realization that "now there were two of us hunters who didn't want to hunt" makes for a nice, animal-rights-friendly ending, its message is somewhat undercut by the fact that those animal heads are still part of his mentor's décor. On a technical down note, while director Jacques Drouin's animation is often dazzling, the color palette is very muted, leaning especially toward muddy browns. Optional. Aud: E, P. (R. Pitman)