Based on a series of fantasy books by the Japanese author Nahoko Uehashi, the animated film “The Deer King” opens on a chain gang of enslaved people forced to labor in a salt mine. While they and their captors sleep, a pack of wolves enter the mine, biting hundreds and passing on a deadly disease. A pair of humans manage to get out alive: Van (Shinichi Tsutsumi), a former soldier, and Yuna (Hisui Kimura), an orphaned toddler. The two escape to the countryside, only to find themselves thrust into an effort to discover a cure for the disease that killed the others. The movie, directed by Masashi Ando and Masayuki Miyaji, follows Van’s tender relationship with Yuna and the lengths he will go to protect her, even as he finds nefarious forces stacked against him.
The illness only infects and kills the Zol people, who a decade earlier invaded the nation of Aquafa, leading many to believe that the disease is the result of a curse that protects the mysterious Aquafa. Concerned that his people’s hold in the region could slip should the disease spread, the Zol emperor sends Hohsalle (Ryoma Takeuchi), a medical doctor, to find a cure. Van, whose blood Hohsalle believes can help those infected, lands in the center of two seemingly opposing forces: spirituality and modern medicine.
The film is tenderly wrought and brilliantly animated, with transitions that emphasize the communion between the land and the human body. Its final moments don’t quite stick to the landing, but the characters all have clear motivations, and the political themes are distinctly woven in throughout but do not overpower the film; they become secondary to the depictions of the natural world and the characters’ relationships.
The Deer King
Rated R for violence. In Japanese, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours. In theaters.
