Working with the film-makers Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce has adapted Michael Morpurgo’s adventure into a thrilling all-ages animation, replete with a clever sheepdog, marauding animal poachers, a long-shipwrecked Japanese second World War veteran and lovely performances from Ken Watanabe and Cillian Murphy.
Kensuke’s Kingdom follows a young, fictionalised version of the author (of War Horse and Private Peaceful) out to sea. Eleven-year-old Michael (Aaron MacGregor) and his sister (Raffey Cassidy) have joined their parents (Murphy and Sally Hawkins) on an ambitious global circumvention aboard their trusty boat, the Peggy Sue.
There is some squabbling about chores and a big bust-up when the family realise Michael has smuggled his beloved sheepdog Stella onboard. Still, the youngster settles into keeping the ship’s logbook with lively sketches and doodles until, one fateful night, he and Stella are tossed overboard by a violent storm in the Indian Ocean. The castaways find themselves on an island where a mysterious host serves them water and sushi.
The directors mix lovely hand-drawn 2D animation with mixed media created by the two main characters. Through delicate watercolours, Kensuke, Aaron’s islander neighbour, is revealed to be a war veteran who lost his family in the Nagasaki bombing. Marooned for many years, he protects the local orangutans and wildlife. In common with the Studio Ghibli coproduction The Red Turtle, Kensuke’s Kingdom favours evocative and succinct tableaux over dialogue.
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The unlikely friendship between Michael and Kensuke is the heart of a film that touches lightly on environmental themes, loss and history. Who knew the same set-up used for the compelling portrait of stranded madness in Arthur Harari’s film Onoda: 10000 Nights in the Jungle, from 2021, could yield delightful family entertainment?
