Tarka der Otter (1979)

Tarka der Otter: Directed by David Cobham. With Peter Bennett, Edward Underdown, Brenda Cavendish, John Leeson. A family movie which follows the life of a real otter and its adventures in the wild.

“A rather odd family orientated film, it is narrated by Peter Ustinov in an awkward documentary-like fashion, with terms that may be too complex for younger viewers, although the story is a bit simple for any older viewers. There is some good scenic photography and a few clever close-ups on animals, plus the accompanying music is quite nice, but the film suffers from a lack of proper characters and dialogue, which causes me to wonder whether the film would have been better told in some form of animation with talking animals. The story could have also done with some humorous touches, but as flawed as it may well be, it still a highly unique film, and it does have a fairly good technical side.”