Beaver Trap

Can't believe I forgot to blog Hundreds of Beavers (2022), which I saw a few weeks ago. Or maybe I can. In addition to being one of the funniest and most unusual movies of the ... century?, it's also a light-weight piece of fluff.

First of all, understand that this is a low-budget, black-and-white, near silent (no dialog, SFX only) movie. It is set in the snowy woods of Canada. The protagonist, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, is the happy proprietor of an apple jack distillery and bar, until it burns to the ground, leaving him alone in the wilderness. 

After many desperate attempts, taunted by local wildlife, he manages to catch a fish. Seeing distant smoke, he takes the fish to a trading post, where he trades it for a knife. There, he notices two things: the trader has a lovely daughter, and a burly trapper is earning more than him with beaver pelts. In fact, the trader has a computer-game-like menu of pelt to goods exchange rates. 

And so he goes off to earn pelts for the love of his life, the trader's daughter. His early attempts leave him naked and freezing, but undaunted. He meets a First Nation native, fights off rabbits, raccoons and wolves, and is hunted as a serial killer by a pair of beaver detective. But he prevails.

Note that the beavers and other wild life are played by people in athletic mascot costumes. I suppose it's pretty easy to find beaver costumes in Canada. The winter wilderness scenes were achieved, as far as I can tell, by filming in the wilderness in the winter. Considering that Tews was often naked, this is impressive. But the scenes are often augmented by simple effects, like cut out hills in the background. 

The jokes are dopey and slapstick, with Tews falling in holes, getting stuck in his own traps, and so on. So there is a real silent-era feel. But there are also gamer touches, like the trading system. So a mix of Chaplin/Keaton/Three Stooges and modern video games. 

As well as making us laugh a lot, we were often amazed at the cheap yet clever effects. Director Mike Cheslik and his buddy Tews made something wonderful and fun. But it was also feather light, so it didn't really stick in my mind. But, since everyone is raving about it, at least I don't feel too bad about failing to promote it myself.