Oh my goodness! This film is gorgeous! It's graceful! It's glamorous, and many other adjectives beginning with 'g'! It is God! If you are a fan of animation, you have to see this film. If you like fantastical films of whimsy, then you have to see this film. If you like French films, then you have to see this film. In case you hadn't guessed it already, I kinda like this film. No, scrap that. I love this film! I wish it was getting more than just two showings at the MIFF, but hopefully Nova or Palace will distribute it after, though I am very doubtful. This is one that I will definitely be buying on DVD!
So, what is this gorgeous film about? Well, in a painting depicting a palace surrounded by a dense forest stands a rigid social hierarchy between the Alldunns (the finished people), the Halfies (those who are half finished), and the Sketchies (rough pencil sketches). This prejudice comes to a head when the Grand Candlestick (leader of the Alldunns) makes it known that the painter will not be coming back to finish the painting. So, three mismatched characters set off to find the painter and ask him to come back and finish off everyone's designs. Leading them is Lola (Jessica Monceau) a vivacious and thoughtful Halfie, Plume (Thierry Jahn, named Quill in the sub) a Sketchie who is angry at the Alldunns for what they did to his friends, Gom, and Ramo (Adrien Larmande) an Alldunn who is love with Halfie, Claire (Chloé Berthier). Together they escape their painting and go hunting for the painter, encountering his other paintings along the way.
It's quite a simple premise, but I'm surprised that no one else has made something like this before. The only thing that comes close are the talking pictures in Harry Potter and Night at the Museum 2. But this seems to be the first time a film has been devoted to exploring what happens to paintings once they are finished. (I could be completely wrong of course, and if I am please tell me so. And also what films do explore this amazingly simple premise). But I struggle to call this a kids film, it's really too philosophicalfor kids to understand some of the ideas that are represented in the film. Not that they won't enjoy it, or get something out of it. The colours are bright, the music (which I will get to later) is loud and the characters are very memorable, though there are some dark moments. And there is a nude painting, which immature kids will laugh at (I speak from experience, I was unfortunate to see this with three groups of high school kids, HIGH SCHOOL for chrissakes, and they thought a topless woman was hilarious). But her body is very stylised, and, like a piece of art, you can't really object to it.
Anyway, let me get on to what makes this film so amazing, the animation. The film was animated in digital 3D, but it feels like it was rotoscoped. Every characters actions are incredibly fluid., it's so amazing! And the backgrounds are really pretty! It took over 2 years in production, and was made only on a budget of $4 million. There are also little differences between the paintings so that you can tell them apart but still see that they are still by the same painter. And the parts during the real world use real sets with animation over the top of them, all of it just adding to the awesomeness that is this film! The voice acting is also excellent and I do have to give extra credit to Thierry Jahn as Plume for doing an excellent job as an angry and guilty Sketchie, and also to Jessica Monceau as Lola, because she has so much life in her voice.
There are some dark elements in this, particularly when Gom is discovered in the Alldunns palace and they beat him to ... death? It's quite a disturbing part, exaggerated greatly by the music. Oh god, this score is brilliant! There are a lot of scenes without talking and the score is so constant in those parts it's like watching an old ballet. In fact, the score reminded me most of the ballets of Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, especially the Nutcracker and Firebird suites. It was so bombasticand prominent, that the few moments without music were truly magical, like when Lola jumps out of her painting. Best part of the film.
So, because of my laziness, you might be reading this after the second screening of this masterpiece. But if you ever get a chance, see it! A philosophical French animated movie about art may seem pretentious, but because this was made for a younger audience, there is a certain innocence about it that makes the questions it raises a little child-like and he answers easy to find (if you look hard enough). And no, I'm not going to go into what the film means. For a 70 minute film, this is really deep, and one that you really have to find out for yourself. I know what it means to me, but it's hard to put into words. And for you, it may be completely different. Until next time, in which we will explore a stop motion zombie film. Hooray!
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