We have gotten used to the idea of a post-apocalyptic world filled with violence and greed. The animated film Flow, from director Gints Zilbalodis, is a different (and delightful) kind of post-apocalyptic vision. It is a new way of understanding the lifeboat ethics that we all may be facing in the midst of a changing world. Flow is Latvia’s submission for Best Foreign Feature. (And as of writing, has been shortlisted.)
This is the story of a cat. It goes out each day and returns home to a derelict house where a carver of cat statuary had lived. (There are no humans in this film at any point. It seems to be a world we have already been eliminated from.) One day, a sudden, tsunami-like flood comes through the area. The cat manages to get home, but is followed by a friendly golden retriever.
The water keeps rising. When a boat drifts by, the cat manages to get in, where he finds a capybara. Soon, the dog has managed to join, then a lemur who hoards glass and shiny things. Also involved are a secretary bird and a cross between whale and sea monster. Together they travel through the world where the water just keeps rising. They travel through nature and the ruined cities of the past.
These are not anthropomorphized animals and there is no dialogue. Each animal acts like itself. (Although they do manage to understand how to steer the boat, and act at times as a community.) Yet, we are invited to see ourselves and our world through their eyes.
All is not harmony in this lifeboat. Because the animals have different temperaments and behaviors, they sometimes misunderstand each other. But there are other times when they manage to boost one another. And they each manage to be the savior of others along the way.
The term “lifeboat ethics” goes back fifty years as a metaphor for human survival in an ecologically and economically changing world. That this film is set in the world of nature, it emphasizes the environmental struggle we are dealing with—and not always dealing with well.
For the animals in the boat, their survival relies first on recognizing that they have needs, but so do others. None of the animals are the center of this group. It is not in destroying each other that they will survive, rather the community that they become is their salvation.
However, the ending is a bit bittersweet because when the waters recede, there is a casualty. It reminds us that the global crisis will have a cost, and a dear one. (The scene is mitigated slightly by a post-credits scene.)
Flow is in theaters.
Photos courtesy of Janus Films.
