The animated film “Niko – Beyond the Northern Lights” is gripping from start to finish. It is a very well-told story about a kind reindeer whose mother and father have divorced. The decision is irrevocable. Each parent has chosen a different life.
Dad Biegun is a flying reindeer in Santa Claus’s elite Squadron—a hero, celebrity, “eternal youngster,” and a very likable character at the same time. He is the kind of crazy dad who can teach his son to fly at “ornament-breaking” speed, but cannot make it back for Christmas Eve dinner because he has more important duties than his family. More of a buddy than a father.
Mama Luna is somewhat overprotective of her son. She tries to set boundaries and raises him responsibly, so she forbids and gets angry about the irresponsible escapades her son goes on with his father. She wants a partner who will help her raise the child and look after him. She does not want a hero. She wants a mature reindeer who may be boring and lack Superman’s appearance, but who will accompany her in ordinary, everyday life and handle the most mundane responsibilities.
Luna finds a suitable partner, whom her son does not accept. In Niko’s judgment, he is worse than his father, talks only about the weather, and has not an ounce of courage. On top of that, he also has a son (Riko), a little kid who is embarrassing. All this means that when the two boys go for a walk in the forest, Niko wants his stepbrother to disappear from his life. And only when the child’s wish comes true and Riko is carried off by eagles does the adventure begin.
I believe this wise story can be watched not only by divorced parents and their children. These days, divorce seems to affect all of us—our own, or one in the family, or among friends. It would be good for children to have their own hero, a kind animated character who has experienced a similar fate, so they can see that there is no simple path to accepting their parents’ decisions. It is also important to understand why they are angry and what makes them so upset when a new partner enters one parent’s life and proves that the change is irrevocable.
The most interesting and most significant character in the animated film—for parents, for a different reason than for children—is the old reindeer Tobiasz (Stanisław Tym). He is a tragically lonely character who desperately tries to hide his loneliness. Only in old age did Tobiasz begin to long for the home and family he never created, because he had been absorbed throughout his life by flying in Santa Claus’s elite Squadron.
The film will be showing at Forum cinema until Wednesday, December 12. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Grażyna Hanaf