***Spoilers below***
The story is about a young lamb named Chirin who lived with his mother and their herd in a meadow. Chirin was more energetic than all the other lambs put together and wore a bell around his neck so that his mother could find him if he wandered too far while playing. All is good in Chirin's life until one night when the wolf king comes down from his mountain and attacks the sheep in their little hut. He starts attacking one or two of the sheep and then sees Chirin and charges for him, but before the wolf can eat him, Chirin's mother throws herself on Chirin and sacrifices herself for her baby. When Chirin is able to struggle out from under his mother the wolf has gone and he finds that his mother is dead, so he leaves the meadow to find the wolf on the mountain and get revenge. When he climbs the mountain and finds the wolf he tries charging him, yelling that he killed his mother, but the wolf doesn't give him the time of day and flicks him down the side of a small drop with his tail, knocking Chirin out. When he wakes up he goes again to find the wolf, but this time tells the wolf that he wants to be his apprentice. sheep are weak and they hide instead of fighting, but wolves are strong. The wolf laughs him off and Chirin goes off to prove himself as a wolf by trying to scare buffalo, a skunk, and a couple of ground hogs or something, but instead of scaring them they just laugh and end up pushing him around instead. Chirin returns to the wolf defeated and then decides to follow the wolf around. The wolf ends up giving in and trains Chirin to live the hard and lonely life of a wolf. After much time has past and Chirin has grown into an adult ram, the wolf decides it is time to attack the sheep in the meadow again, this time with Chirin. Chirin barges into the little shack and the sheep are scrambling around everywhere to hide. One little lamb calls for his mother and she runs to him and shields him with her body, like Chirin's mother did so long ago. This strikes a chord in him and he runs out of the hut. The wolf comes to meet him and tells him not to run away. Chirin doesn't want to wolf to kill anymore sheep so he and the wolf fight and chirin ends up killing him. Then Chirin leaves, more alone and heartsick than ever before, never to be seen or heard from again.
***End spoilers***
This movie touched a chord in me, I think it would in almost anyone. When you first start watching it it seems like it will be a really fluffy vacuous movie that you'll forget 10 minutes after watching it. Instead, it's almost a testament to those who have loved and lost and then let the pain of that loss lead them down a darker road. I know that it doesn't seem like a movie for children, but I think that the way this was handled is appropriate for a children's film. There is no blood or gore, it just deals with serious issues instead of happily ever afters and the vacuous fluff we've become used to. This was made in the 70's so what's deemed appropriate now and what was then has obviously changed, but I think that films like this should be seen by children. Life is not always going to be happy, not everyone you meet will be happy, and sometimes you will be in bad situations.
The character in this film makes a choice to isolate himself and to be mean, like the wolf who killed his mom, but the way the movie ends leaves the viewer feeling his sadness and his dissatisfaction with his own life. It doesn't tell the child what should be done in a sad situation, but lets the viewer make their own decision. I actually loved it when I first saw it (as an adult) because it didn't have that happy, Disney ending. I mean I love happy endings, but our society has really sucked everything out of the 'happily ever after' idea, so much so that a happy ending seems almost false or staged in film. In almost every film you know that the characters will all be happy at the end of the movie, even if they don't end up getting the guy/girl, they are happy with their lives. This often leads to young kids who grow up having to find out that life isn't a happily ever after. There will be bad things that happen and you won't always get the guy/ girl. In fact, romance may not even be the focal point of your happiness, shocking an idea as that is. This movie had an unsatisfied character and left the viewer with something to think about. Chirin's struggle will stay with you after the credits. It definitely leaves an impression on the viewer. Now, whether or not you want to expose your child to the fact that everything is not happy in the world and that the choices you make will effect you in some way or another is up to the parent, but this is definitely a children's film. It's deeper than it seems on the surface and gives a child something to think about. Great film.
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