Greetings again from the darkness. While this animated feature absolutely stands on its own, a little background makes it even more interesting.
Jacques Tati is legendary among cinephiles. He is responsible for a small, but fascinating clump of films that span 25+ years. His best known are Mr. Hulot’s Holiday and Mon Oncle, the latter of which makes a quick appearance in this film. Tati wrote the original script in the 1950’s just prior to his career exploding in popularity. He intended the script to be filmed as a live action production, but he died in 1982 without ever getting around to making the film. Instead, his daughter held onto the script and eventually gave it to filmmaker Sylvain Chomet, who is responsible for the fantastic 2003 animated film The Triplets of Belleville.
Mr. Chomet’s animated version is quite the tribute to Tatis. The lead character shares not only Tatis’ birth name (Tatischeff) but also his look and mannerisms. He is a technically adept magician whose time has come and gone … his sly skills and popularity replaced by the obnoxious noise of rock stars. He is now confined to run down music halls and finally a department store showroom window. A true relic on display … ironically hocking the hottest items of the day.
Along the way “down” he meets a girl who seems to worship what magic he has left. She cooks and cleans and caters to him. Her attention leads him to spend what little money he has on buying her new shoes and clothes. A sad spectacle played out in real life entirely too many times. The girl’s presence does give him a reason to go on … if for no other reason that to keep up with her whims.
Of course, nothing last forever. Neither the magician, nor the girl’s adoration. The details of Edinburgh and the characters are a tribute to both the Tatis script and the brilliant eye of Chomet. It is a rather sad and bleak story told with a most unusual pace and nearly no dialogue. The characters movements and the beautiful score leave little doubt what is occurring with each character and in each scene. This is wonderful animated filmmaking and it certainly deserves it’s Oscar nomination.
SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you have an appreciation for animated world cinema OR (like me) you believe The Triplets of Belleville to be one of the finest animated films ever made.
SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you believe animated films need to be very wild, noisy and colorful to hold attention
Movie Reviews from the Dark 