An animated feature from Turkey, The Boy and The Sword is a modern Persian fairy tale. You see, gentle reader, Turkey, the country, is not merely composed of Turks. There are Persians, Pols, and several other ethnic groups living across the biggest chunk of the land bridge between Europe and Asia; Turkey is so large it used to be referred to as Asia Minor.
The Boy and The Sword tells the story of Karen (Mahbod Ghanaatpisheh; and Maryam Khelghati as young Karen). Borrowing a leaf from the great Robert E. Howard, Karen has received from his father his first practice sword. However, his father and mother number among the people the Sultan (Meysam Niknam) has decreed should be put to death. What should have been a pleasant birthday party, followed by initial sword practice, becomes a complete tragedy as Karen witnesses the Sultan’s janissaries put his parents to the sword, and break his birthday gift.
Whisked to a far-off village for safety, Karen’s story, The Boy and The Sword, plays itself out as a prolonged flashback. While Karen is filled with a desire for revenge, his uncle insists he stay hidden. As Karen grows, he improves his swordsmanship and becomes an expert duelist.
“On his birthday, young Karen watches in horror as the Sultan’s soldiers slay his parents and shatter his first sword, setting him on a lifelong path of vengeance.”
Which brings us back to the beginning, where an adult, confident Karen has returned to Madain. This is as much of the plot as I wish to relay, gentle reader. To see how Karen’s story plays out, you must watch The Boy and The Sword.
The Boy and the Sword is computer-animated and feels hyper-realistic. Working off a script by Rahmani, Pour, and Farahani, Emad Rahmani and Mehrdad Gargari lead a glorious effort to animate The Boy and The Sword. It’s a tale that could have leapt from the pages of the 1001 Nights. The animation is stunning. While the eyes could use some work and sometimes seem dead, the faces are rather emotive. The voice work is of variable quality, yet no one breaks the suspension of disbelief with a truly bad vocal performance. This is a solid effort from Octane Entertainment, the animation studio that produced The Boy and The Sword.
The film is by no means the best of its class. However, given its Turkish/Farsi origin, it is a great and masterful work. The Turkish film industry, from what I have observed, is primarily focused on live-action cinema. This is a bold move to work on a computer-animated project. I definitely enjoyed The Boy and The Sword for what it was: a rollicking, fun family adventure. There are definitely not enough of those, gentle readers. There used to be a time when Family Adventure films dominated Hollywood’s output. Those days are long gone, and it’s a shame. We could definitely use more films parents can watch with children without feeling bored or irritated at having to put up with the child-geared humor or other juvenile antics.
So, if you need a rollicking sword and sorcery film to watch with your children, niblings, or other assorted family members, seek out The Boy and The Sword. It’s a fine occasion for popcorn-powered movie watching. I expect you will probably like it.
"…a rollicking fun family adventure."
