Fire
Nothing says down with the patriarchy like a good ol’ fashioned pretend-she’s-a-he adventure, but given the real story, we’ll take it.
Fireheart
Directors: Theodore Ty, Laurent Zeitoun • Writers: Laurent Zeitoun, Jennica Harper, Daphne Ballon
Starring [English]: Olivia Cooke, Kenneth Branagh, Laurie Holden, William Shatner, Ryan Garcia, Wilex Ly, Scott Humphrey
Canada/France • 1hr 32mins
Opens Hong Kong August 18 • I
Grade: B
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Fireheart is its epilogue, or perhaps its credit-roll extras. After the story about 16-year-old Georgia Nolan (Olivia Cooke) wraps up with her becoming the New York Fire Department’s first female firefighter, the facts of that matter are plastered on the screen. Fireheart is fantasy (more on that in a bit). In reality, the first woman was hired by the NYFD in 1989. You read that right. 1989. I’ll just let that sit there for a minute… Women firefighters haven’t been around as long as the Predator franchise.
Which makes the flights of fancy in the buoyantly coloured and effervescently facile Fireheart forgivable. You know, the fancies that allow for an Asian kid, Jin (Wilex Ly) and a Latinx kid, Ricardo (Ryan Garcia) to be recruited by the Department, and for Black folks to mingle in the rich parts of Manhattan without incident – in 1930. Did I forget to mention Fireheart takes place just after the (evidently not-a-thing) Great Depression. How about the gay (coded) chief of police (Scott Humphrey) who’s really into Broadway show tunes? Did I forget him too?
Now that’s a truck
Faulting Fireheart for historical inaccuracy and trading in animated convention (cute animals, heightened physicality, a bizarrely well-financed villain) when its raison d’être is to deliver a message of perseverance, inclusivity, equality, and raising a giant middle finger to the glass ceiling is simply being petty. The film isn’t for jaded, bitter grown women who are tired of mansplaining fools and double standards nearly a century after the film’s action unfolds. It’s for girls who still need these kinds of images to connect to. Is it perfect? No. But its, erm, heart is in the right place. And it really is colourful.
In the grand tradition of breast-binding comedy, Georgia disguises herself as “Joe” in order to sneak onto the crew that will help her father/role model/greatest fireman of all time, Shawn (Kenneth Branagh) find the arsonist who’s razing the city’s theatres to the ground and disappearing its fire squads. The retired Shawn is dragged back into action by the sleazy, narcissistic mayoral candidate Jimmy Murray (William Shatner, effortless), and unknowingly becomes his beloved daughter’s commander. Cue hijinks and revelations.
She actually uses ‘Sister’ here, bless
This is Montreal-based studio L'Atelier Animation’s second attempt at a stealth success, after its first film, Ballerina, became something of a surprise hit in 2016. Fireheart may not have that film’s nuance, but it does have solid intentions and an admirable message. There’s no arguing with the rich quality of the artwork; the film has some of the deepest colours and best rendered urban spaces since Pixar’s last truly great film (when was that exactly?). When Georgia heads up the skeleton of an emerging skyscraper to save the day directors Theodore Ty and Laurent Zeitoun manage a magnificently vertiginous composition that will probably have very young kids gripping their armrests, even if the rest of us know there’s no real peril. And in fairness it’s not without its charms. Jin has a handful of hilariously smooth moments (“I’m 21.”) and native Montréalais Shatner is hamming as hard as he’s ever hammed as the smarmy Murray – perfectly it must be said. Fireheart isn’t going to reinvent the wheel or change your life, but it might just plant a rebellious bug in some little girl’s head. Here’s to that. — DEK
more animated girls to get behind
Princess Mononoke (1997), d: Hayao Miyazaki
A no-brainer. Studio Ghibli’s OG badass eco-warrior Mononoke Hime and her war against her forest’s foes are must-see stone classics.
Persepolis (1997), d: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
A gorgeously loudmouthed girl grows up in post-revolution Iran and Vienna, then tries to find her place in the world. This is coming-of-age, Disney.
The Breadwinner (2017), d: Nora Twomey
In Tailban-ruled Kabul, an 11-year-old girl lops off her hair, poses as a boy, and become family’s earner when her dad is arrested. Infuriating and inspiring.