A black cat wanders through a forest when it sees its next prey: a wriggling fish in the river, just out of reach. But before Cat can pounce, a pack of dogs rushes in, plucking the fish out of the water. But what luck! The dogs fight over it, giving this feline the chance to snatch the fish and run off — fleeing before the dogs notice their meal is no longer there. Cat and dogs give chase, but this normal scene in the wilderness is interrupted by the abnormal: a stampede of fleeing deer, followed by a towering wave of water so huge it blots out the sky. Soon, Cat is caught in the tidal wave, which quickly covers the entire world in an endless flood.
Flow, an animated adventure film directed by Gints Zilbalodis and written by Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža, is Latvia’s entry for the Best International Film Oscar — and it’s easy to see why. A narratively minimalist, visually splendid odyssey, Flow is an invigorating new innovation in 3D animation thanks to its unique hybrid of traditional CG animation and video game cinematics. The result is something like a painting come to life, a stunning tableau upon which Zilbalodis can draw his sweetly moving story of animals weathering a biblical apocalypse.
