Hammerle on … “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “Capernaum”

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” will capture your attention from beginning to end. You are likely never to have seen such an emotionally powerful, heartbreaking animated story since Disney’s “Bambi” (1942).

In the same fashion as Peter Jackson concluded his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, director Dean DeBlois achieves that same meaningful finale with his third “Dragon” film. I loved and admired the first two films released in 2010 and 2014, and this movie will bring tears to your eyes as the animated characters face the inevitable consequences of life that confront us in the real world.

Hiccup, voiced by Jay Baruchel, has emerged as a young Viking leader in the community known as Berk. Growing up as a teenager where he was taught by his father Stoick (Gerard Butler) to treat dragons as enemies that needed to be killed, he encounters a dragon known as the Night Fury that has a damaged tail that keeps him from flying. Hiccup names him Toothless, and a lifelong friendship develops between the two when the young dragon obtains an artificial tail that allows him to speed through the heavens.

With this film, the Vikings now live in a world that is dominated by the presence of dragons. Though they have learned to coexist with a certain degree of discomfort, Hiccup and his followers are forced to confront an enemy that seeks to kidnap and destroy all dragons. The heartless marauders are led by Grimmel, magnificently embellished by the voice of F. Murray Abraham, and the Vikings must find a way to find a legendary Lost World where dragons live and prosper on their own.

However, please do not dismiss this movie as a simplistic animated film about an inevitable war. To the contrary, it captures romance in a fashion seldom seen in any animated film. It begins when Toothless falls in love with a white Night Fury and their relationship has as many ups and downs as Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in “Gone with the Wind” (1939).

In addition, Hiccup has his own love, the engaging Astrid, voiced with spunk and style by America Ferrera. She is a determined young woman whose advice gives him the strength to succeed. There is nothing artificial about the relationships of either these dragons or Vikings, and their scenes together create an unparalleled magic that will leave all of you in a state of gleeful wonder.

But just as Frodo Baggins had to say goodbye to all of his friends as he was forced to sail into the twilight in the “Lord of the Rings” finale (2003), you know that Hiccup and Toothless are going to have to do the same thing. Hiccup remembers the advice he received from his father as a boy when he was told that life inevitably involved loss, and he knew that Toothless, his mate and all of the other dragons had to flee to the Lost World where they could be free of any brutality inflicted from the human world.

As the characters cried and embraced on screen, I looked around and there wasn’t a dry eye in the movie theater.

The “Dragon” movies remind all of us that saying goodbye to loved ones, be they humans or pets, is an inevitable consequence of life. If we are to find any meaning in this existence, we have to embrace the joy of each day knowing that these moments will eventually be remembered with pictures put in an album and kept in a special place at home.

“Capernaum”

“Capernaum,” written and directed by Nadine Labaki, explores the sordid daily lives of a family living in the slums of a Lebanese city. The cinematography is captivating as it shows the squalid nature of this community from breathtaking overhead shots following a 12-year-old as he rambles through the crowded streets and alleys.

In many ways, I couldn’t help but feel that Labaki had taken inspiration from Dante’s portrayal of the River Styx. However, while Dante had his river connect the real world to eternity in Hell, Labaki describes a Styx tributary that takes humans to a living hell existence on earth.

In one of the greatest performances by a child actor in the history of film, Zain Al Rafeea plays Zain, a 12-year-old boy serving a 5-year sentence for a violent crime. From the beginning of the film where you see Zain in court with a lawyer bringing a lawsuit against his parents for neglect, the film heads in a direction that will take you to the edge of an emotional collapse as you sit entranced.

Zain lives with his many sisters in a two-room shed. His parents are bitter, and he flees to the streets when they give away his 11-year-old sister, who happens to be his best friend, to a landlord as a bride. While Zain’s prison sentence relates to a violent attack on his sister’s husband when he learns of her death, you watch him live off the streets as he tries to find any type of work where he can keep from starving to death. In the process, he meets Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw), an Ethiopian refugee and single mother of a 1-year-old child who takes Zain into her home.

What transpires is one of the most loveable relationships you will see on the big screen. Zain is offered decent food and a place to live if he will watch the young boy while Rahil goes to work each day. The two boys quickly become friends, with the 1-year-old.

However, trouble ensues when Rahil is arrested for not having proper identification. When she doesn’t come home for days, Zain and his young cohort are forced to hit the streets in the hopes of finding her and scavenging food. When you see them pouring sugar on top of ice cubes as an evening meal you will know why your heart will be battered and bruised long before this film ends.

I went to see this film with my dear friend Belle Choate, and a scene where the 1-year-old appears to be starving to death was one of many scenes where she was left gasping while burying her face in her hands. I forced myself to watch every scene as I cried without shame or regret.

While “Capernaum” describes what it means to be poor while living in the Middle East, it in many ways was a reflection on life in America. Our government, both nationally and locally, treats the middle class in much the same fashion as what you observe in this film. Look at our president, who wants to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on a needless wall on our southern border while states like Indiana and cities like Indianapolis fight to obtain funds to keep our infrastructure from collapsing.

Meanwhile, 40,000 Americans are gunned down annually not by immigrants, but by other Americans. Yet we are to hate and fear Hispanic families who are trying to enter this country to find a better life. We have the largest jail population of any country, and it made me think of this film where Zain was imprisoned as a 12-year-old. If you doubt my reasoning, look at the Hoosier state, where our Legislature is trying to pass laws that will allow 12-year-olds to be treated like adults in a court of law.

Forgive me, but I can’t help but look upon the White River as our tributary of the River Styx.•

• Robert Hammerle practices criminal law in Indianapolis. When he is not in the courtroom or the office, Bob can likely be found at one of his favorite movie theaters preparing to review the latest films. To read more of his reviews, visit www.bigmouthbobs.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.