A Ukrainian village, 19th century. A long time ago, a villager asked the forest demon for a leaf from the rejuvenation tree to save his daughter, but when the demon obliged, the villager returned with other people to try to steal the whole tree, sparking a war after which the humans were forbidden to cross across the mountain. Mavka is a forest spirit who falls in love with Lukas, a musician from the village who trespassed into the magical forest to find a leaf from the rejuvenation tree because he was paid by Kylina. When Lukas is chased away by other spirits, Mavka visits him in the village. The villagers are incited by Kylina to attack the magical forest. Kylina has a secret agenda, since she uses the drops from the rejuvenation tree to keep herself young. Mavka uses spirit powers to create a tornado and attack the village, but Lukas' music manages to stop her. The spirits and the humans agree to live side by side in peace.
A gentler, more kid-friendly version of "Princess Mononoke", "Mavka: The Forest Song" blends Ukrainian folk mythology into an ecological film that works surprisingly well. Most of the charm stems from the loveable, innocent title heroine and her interaction with a human, Lukas, which even becomes a sweet love story. Simple and accessible, "Mavka" also has some bitter contemplations about the relationship between humans and nature, and even between two different cultures and the problems of co-existence. Once humor is introduced (when Lukas first meets Mavka, he tries to be polite, so he forces himself to smile when looking at her pet, an aggressive forest spirit, saying: "It's so cute how he hates me..."), the story just becomes funnier and funnier later on, with some moments practically becoming a comedy (the hilarious sequence where the evil fashion designer forces himself to go to the village and step foot into the back yard full of mud to secretly spy on Lukas from the window, but is then attacked by an angry rooster). The relationship between Mavka and Lukas is really well done, since their affection grows gradually and naturally, as they are both gentle souls. The animation is at times schematic and "stiff", and the pacing is uneven, yet the storyline does have some sharp observations (the ending with the humans at war with the forest spirits is a parallel of the opening intro; the villain ends in the least expected resolution), whereas the authors show a lot of care for Ukrainian folklore, no matter how untypical it might look for the universal market.
Grade:++
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