Ten year old Erik (Jasper Oldenhof) feels lonely and hopeless now his father is dead. At school he struggles to finish a class project about insects without his father's help and gets made fun of on account of his obvious crush on pretty Rosalie (Yale Sackman). Left alone with his grandpa one evening Erik receives a welcome gift of a book on entomology that once belonged to his dad. Erik's grandpa (Jaak Van Assche) also shows him a strange painting in the attic of a woodland idyll called Woolly Meadow reputed to have magical properties. At night pictures of Erik's great-grandpa Henry (Gregor Frenkel Frank) and great-grandma Henrietta (Trudy Labij) come to life and shrink Erik down to tiny size so he can step into Woolly Meadow. To finally finish the school project Erik goes in search of the wise Earthworm, encountering among others a golf-loving wasp, a hotel full of bugs built on the back of a travelling snail, a bloodthirsty spider, militant ants on an eye-opening adventure through the land of insects.
From Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) to Arthur and the Minimoys (2007) there remains something alluring for kids about a fantasy world lying at the bottom of your garden. A simple change in perspective as result of being shrunk down to bug size opens up a world of possibilities. Adapted from the book Erik, of het Kleine Insectenboek by author and television personality Godfried Bomans, this Dutch children's film brings the pastoral wonderland of Woolly Meadow vividly to life in eye-popping colours. For the most part forsaking sterile CGI director and co-screenwriter Gidi Van Liempd employs real sets and actors in extravagant insect costumes making only small yet creative use of computer graphics in a whimsical style reminiscent of Amelie (2001). The result is a charming throwback to vintage children's films. Slow-paced, character-driven and contemplative, Erik in the Land of Insects strives to stimulate younger viewers into pondering big ideas about life, death and philosophy. Not many kids' films close with a philosophical quote from Leonardo Da Vinci.
Coping with loss is the central theme. The film implies growing up means learning to accept death as part of nature. Far from gloomy however the tone is upbeat and life-affirming. Thanks to the Earthworm (who despite his affable personality suffers from an unappealing, unintentionally creepy design), Erik learns the dead live on inside our hearts though to keep their memory alive we must embrace life wholeheartedly. Instinct proves another significant theme but although we see how this factors with the insect characters, notably Papilio (Trevor Reekers) the slightly fey butterfly whom Erik encourages to fight off a bullying moth to defend his girlfriend, it remains unclear how this theme applies to the boy hero. Somewhat inconsistent, the episodic plot raises ideas then drops them abruptly but proves consistently entertaining. The lengthy segment with Erik at the snail hotel where he tries to pass himself off as a 'bookworm' and flatters other bugs by revealing their entries in his book is especially charming.
Neat conceits like the raindrop-shower cubicles at the snail hotel and insect conspiracy theories about U.W.O's (unidentified walking objects) exhibit an amusing imagination. However, Erik's rather jarring profanities, a discreet butterfly sex scene and an odd comedy moment where he convinces curious bugs his penis is a stinger (!) might prove too off-kilter for those accustomed to mainstream family fare. The musical sequences are also hit-and-miss with enthusiastic but insipid Euro-pop. Nevertheless the film's sincerity, philosophical aspirations and eccentric flights of fancy are distinctive and appealing.
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