Following its Cannes premiere, My Life as a Zucchini emerged as one of the most acclaimed animated films of the year, selected as Sweden’s Best Foreign Language Film entry at the Oscars, as well as making the Academy Awards shortlist of nine films for Best Animated Film, not to mention a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Film.
Even if you don’t care about the awards hoopla, I can confirm it’s definitely one to see out. Directed by Claude Barras and scripted by Céline Sciamma (Girlhood), it tells the story of a boy who becomes orphaned after accidentally killing his alcoholic mother. Fear not though as it’s not as depressing as that logline suggests, with Barras crafting a deeply felt tale of healing, even if it feels a tad too short at just over an hour.
We said in our review, “Orphanages conjure up images of...
Even if you don’t care about the awards hoopla, I can confirm it’s definitely one to see out. Directed by Claude Barras and scripted by Céline Sciamma (Girlhood), it tells the story of a boy who becomes orphaned after accidentally killing his alcoholic mother. Fear not though as it’s not as depressing as that logline suggests, with Barras crafting a deeply felt tale of healing, even if it feels a tad too short at just over an hour.
We said in our review, “Orphanages conjure up images of...
- 1/10/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Orphanages conjure up images of the hard-knock life and servings of gruel. This tough, deeply moving, Céline Sciamma-penned, 66-minute stop-motion gem from France shows the flipside. Sure, harsh realities are inevitably encountered — sometimes in a more uncompromising fashion than you’ll ever see in what is ostensibly a children’s film — but Claude Barras’ feature-directing debut has heart enough to show.
Cinema tells us children want to escape from schools and institutions – Barras name-checks The 400 Blows and The Chorus among his influences here — but in My Life as a Courgette, it’s the outside world that needs escape. That’s where we meet Icare, nicknamed “Courgette” (French for “zucchini”; voiced by Gaspard Schlatter) by his alcoholic maman, who’s amassed stacks of beer cans that he plays with while she watches TV soaps, occasionally screeching at her son when she’s disturbed from her slumber. Before long, her...
Cinema tells us children want to escape from schools and institutions – Barras name-checks The 400 Blows and The Chorus among his influences here — but in My Life as a Courgette, it’s the outside world that needs escape. That’s where we meet Icare, nicknamed “Courgette” (French for “zucchini”; voiced by Gaspard Schlatter) by his alcoholic maman, who’s amassed stacks of beer cans that he plays with while she watches TV soaps, occasionally screeching at her son when she’s disturbed from her slumber. Before long, her...
- 10/11/2016
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
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