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MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
A 2016 Oscar nominee for Outstanding Animated Film, My Life as a Zucchini is a slightly edgy and challenging piece of cinema that definitely goes places where no animated film has gone before (at least in my experience), but I have to wonder at what demographic this film was aimed.
The French film (it's apparently available with subtitles or dubbed in English) is the story of a lonely little boy named Courgette, who is brought to a foster home for all kinds of displaced children by his only friend in the world, a lonely policeman. It is at this home where Courgette learns to let go of his anger toward his mother and learns about things like truth, loyalty, and even romance.
Director Claude Barras and screenwriter Celine Sciamma have crafted a lovely little story that has some surprisingly adult touches that, as an animated film, you have to wonder who the intended audience was for this, at times, disturbing tale. I haven't seen a lot of animated films with abusive alcoholics as mothers of the central character and I found it equally disturbing that Courgette felt responsible for his mother's death. The opening scenes that convey Courgette's fear of his mother are diametrically opposed to his reverence to her memory after she's gone...he has a beer can that he has kept as a souvenir of her and in one scene goes ballistic when one of the other kids finds it and won't give it back.
On the other hand, the story does take some more conventional turns at the foster home as well. The other kids are a disparate breakdown of what we expect...Simon is the spiritual leader of the kids and bully who uses toughness to hide his anger at his predicament; Beatrice is a lonely little girl who thinks her being here is all a big mistake and every time a car pulls up, she thinks it's her mom, and then there's Camille...a little girl who finds a soulmate in Courgette, but is panicked when her nasty Aunt wants to take her home with her in order to receive additional financial assistance.
The stop motion animation is visually arresting and there are some incredible pictures painted here...I loved this one shot where the camera slowly backs up to a reveal an above ground train passing or the sight of the rain pelting the roof of Courgette's home with his Mom. As stated, this is pretty sophisticated cinema and I can't believe children were the intended demographic here, but then I watched a scene near the climax where an employee of the home returns after having a baby and she is rocked when the kids are shocked that she is planning to keep her child no matter what he does...that scene stopped me cold and motivated a half bag popcorn bump up in my rating. If animation with a little substance sounds appealing, you might want to give this one a look.
A 2016 Oscar nominee for Outstanding Animated Film, My Life as a Zucchini is a slightly edgy and challenging piece of cinema that definitely goes places where no animated film has gone before (at least in my experience), but I have to wonder at what demographic this film was aimed.
The French film (it's apparently available with subtitles or dubbed in English) is the story of a lonely little boy named Courgette, who is brought to a foster home for all kinds of displaced children by his only friend in the world, a lonely policeman. It is at this home where Courgette learns to let go of his anger toward his mother and learns about things like truth, loyalty, and even romance.
Director Claude Barras and screenwriter Celine Sciamma have crafted a lovely little story that has some surprisingly adult touches that, as an animated film, you have to wonder who the intended audience was for this, at times, disturbing tale. I haven't seen a lot of animated films with abusive alcoholics as mothers of the central character and I found it equally disturbing that Courgette felt responsible for his mother's death. The opening scenes that convey Courgette's fear of his mother are diametrically opposed to his reverence to her memory after she's gone...he has a beer can that he has kept as a souvenir of her and in one scene goes ballistic when one of the other kids finds it and won't give it back.
On the other hand, the story does take some more conventional turns at the foster home as well. The other kids are a disparate breakdown of what we expect...Simon is the spiritual leader of the kids and bully who uses toughness to hide his anger at his predicament; Beatrice is a lonely little girl who thinks her being here is all a big mistake and every time a car pulls up, she thinks it's her mom, and then there's Camille...a little girl who finds a soulmate in Courgette, but is panicked when her nasty Aunt wants to take her home with her in order to receive additional financial assistance.
The stop motion animation is visually arresting and there are some incredible pictures painted here...I loved this one shot where the camera slowly backs up to a reveal an above ground train passing or the sight of the rain pelting the roof of Courgette's home with his Mom. As stated, this is pretty sophisticated cinema and I can't believe children were the intended demographic here, but then I watched a scene near the climax where an employee of the home returns after having a baby and she is rocked when the kids are shocked that she is planning to keep her child no matter what he does...that scene stopped me cold and motivated a half bag popcorn bump up in my rating. If animation with a little substance sounds appealing, you might want to give this one a look.