Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sat 22 Sep only

Petr Oukropec/Bohdan Sláma / Czech Republic / 2012 / 90 min

As populations rise, inner-city green spaces are increasingly at risk from the power that property magnates and multi-million pound corporations have over certain parts of Westminster – just like Transition Heathrow’s battle against their local airport giant. Petr Oukropec and Bohdan Sláma’s green-fingered passion for investigating these areas blooms in their part fairytale, part docu-drama on the folly of mankind’s bloody-minded approach to progression.

In an unnamed Czech city, children Johanka (Linda Votrubová) and Matyas (Jakub Wunsch) happily reside with a single parent in the poor quarter’s decrepit but functioning botanical gardens. However, their lives are thrown into disarray when Mayor Rýp (Daniel Drewes) announces a plan to demolish their entire district in favour of a modern and “respectable” locale. All seems lost until the appearance of a certain cerulean feline.

While the setting makes for sumptuous visuals, the greenhouse and grounds are less representative of horticulture, and more a literal representation of the battle against metropolonisation (metropolitan-colonisation). Including children allows a charming veil of whimsical naïveté to be laid over the film, seen in the moments of animation that caricature the world’s social misgivings and treat them as something less ominous. This however leads to Oukropec and Sláma’s message becoming confused.

Despite convincing performances, alluring shrubbery and pertinent commentary, the narrative and characters need more depth to achieve a powerful critical statement on society. Permeating the important arguments for protecting the heritage of undeveloped land, and the difficulties in opposing the political agenda with (admittedly delightful) juvenile ridicule, belittles any serious statements. Unlike other films that use metaphors for bureaucratic oppression, The Blue Tiger becomes too symbol-heavy. By failing to be neither enchanting fantasy nor iconoclastic documentary, it feels like the issues have been simplified; it’s nice to appeal to younger audiences but to viewers over fifteen it is sometimes unsubstantial and disappointing.

Showing as part of the Take One Action Film Festival 2012.