Wild Life (Une Vie Sauvage)

Co-directors Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby's Oscar-nominated animated short notes in inter-titles that many British emigrants and other foreigners came to Canada to make a new start. An old-timey country score plays throughout Wild Life, which opens on painterly images depicting a pipe-smoking young man traveling through Alberta by train at the turn of the century. The unnamed character's father complains that our hero imagines himself a cowboy, but the story suggests that he's more like unpredictable comets, which "have highly eccentric orbits,” and—despite the debris they leave behind—are ultimately "a rare but harmless spectacle." The protagonist's trip ends at a plot of land that he purchases with the intention of establishing a ranch, except he spends most of his time playing golf, rowing in the pond, drinking at the local bar, and reading books by the fire. Making no effort to befriend any of the townspeople, his sole companion is a dog with whom he shares his innermost thoughts. In a letter to his upper-class family, he makes the rustic spread sound more impressive than it appears, and is soon asking them to wire more money until business takes off—but that doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. Neighbors tell the unseen narrator that they've met his type before, while a train conductor states, "The Englishmen who end up here have a whole lot of dollars and no sense." Alas, our anti-hero fits that description perfectly, since Canada ends up defeating him. A whimsical tale, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)