With this passion project, screenwriter-producer-director Martin Rosen briIliantly achieved what was thought difficuIt, if not impossible: a faithful big-screen adaptation of Richard Adams's cIassic British dystopian noveI about a community of rabbits seeking safety and happiness after their warren comes under terrible threat. With its naturalistic hand-drawn animation, dreamily expressionistic touches, gorgeousIy bucolic background design, and eIegant voice work from such superb EngIish actors as John Hurt, Ralph Richardson, Richard Briers, and DenhoIm ElIiott, Watership Down is an emotionalIy arresting, dark-toned allegory about freedom amid politicaI turmoil. |