![]() ![]() The despot is apparently killed (the voiceover warns his body was never found). The pivotal moments see Hazel mount a defense against Woundwort with the help of a dog. ![]() When they do finally liberate the captives, Woundwort brings down all his vengeance upon them, digging through the titular Down and mauling those who stand in his way. ![]() A hulking lump of savagery, Woundwort is a tyrant: when not overseeing insubordinates having their ears torn to shreds or ripping some unfortunate's throat out, he oversees the slavery of does Hazel wants to set free. Hazel is shot by another farmer – leading to a near-death sequence scored by the aforementioned "Bright Eyes" as Hazel dances with The Black Rabbit – we get one of the most terrifying villains in children's cinema in the form of General Woundwort (Harry Andrews). However, all of this is merely a precursor to one of the film's most upsetting moments: the choking of Bigwig (Michael Graham Cox).Īs traumatic as this is, it pales next to what was to come. A number of scary sequences follow, featuring a gloomy wood and the shocking death of Violet – the group's only doe – when a hawk unceremoniously takes her. It's a stunning volte-face, asking us to acknowledge our complicity in the bloodshed while empathizing with the rabbits.Īnd empathize we do, as Fiver, Hazel and a handful of others escape the warren under cover of darkness in a sequence that recalls WWII films of the era. Bearing in mind that this is a film aimed at children, it immediately puts the audience in an uncomfortable, liminal space: we might be appalled by the incoming wave of death, but we also understand that our species is to blame. It's a horrifying tableau, not least because we understand – even if the rabbits don't – that this coming armageddon is the work of People, whose new housing development signals the wholesale destruction of the rabbit's habitat. We then leap to modern times where sensitive soul Fiver experiences an apocalyptic vision, seeing their warren in Sandleford soaked in blood, the tunnels choked with suffocating bodies as they scramble for the surface. From the outset, this is a world of danger, where death can – and frequently does – come from all directions. When El-Ahrairah balks at Frith's command, the deity equips the other animals with claws and teeth to hunt the rabbits before mercifully giving the bunnies speed and wit. If you've not watched Watership Down – or perhaps blocked it out in an act of self-protective amnesia – allow me to paint a picture: it opens with a prelude of lapine mythology, where the god Frith commands rabbit prince El-Ahrairah to control his people from excessive vegetation eating. Although this decision was reviewed in 2022, with the certificate being raised to PG ("parental guidance for mild violence, threat, brief bloody images, language"), it arguably remains the most gruesome children's film. Perhaps more remarkable, the film was originally certified as "U" by the British Board of Film Classification (meaning it was "suitable for all" and that children - however young - should be able to watch it unperturbed). ![]()
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