2016 ‘Ma vie de courgette’ Directed by Claude Barras
After his mother’s death, Zucchini is befriended by a kind police officer, Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. There, with the help of his newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust and love as he searches for a new family of his own.
85
Consider myself floored, especially by its minimal runtime (70 minutes) and how it still manages to juggle the flow of childhood language, implications of the harrowing, and young, lost groups being revitalized by their respective traumas throughout an isolated, rudimentary setup. I can't praise this little movie enough. So many feels, so many truths, and yet always moving along a nice, quiet stream of compassion and kindness, never over-stuffing itself or settling for less.
A surprisingly tender look at a child's life after he's put in foster care. It's got its happy moments and it's sad ones, but it all comes together in the end.
The animation throughout the film is absolutely superb. Stop Motion animation is quite possibly my favorite form of animation out there, and it just looks so beautiful here. Everything from the character designs to its overall atmosphere is crafted in great detail.
I guess the only shortcoming of the film is it's story. For what it is I found it to be quite effective, but there's only so much you can do in an hour. Some scenes felt a bit rushed and I kinda just wanted a little bit…
wow that scene in the snow,
when they're looking up at
the moon -- what a moment.
A Swiss-French claymation version of 'Manchester by the Sea' as a children's book. Objectively, the most adorable movie of the century, while also chock-full of the most profoundly sad moments kids movies have ever had. That art style is an extraordinarily good fit to the bittersweet tone of the film. Those wide eyes carry more emotional weight alone than the entire Dreamworks filmography.
Never thought a 66 minute stop-motion animation would get me all choked up, yet here we are.
Bambino finisce in casa-famiglia dove conosce gruppo di bimbi perduti che soffrono come lui. Simpatico e grazioso Film In stop-motion che dura poco piu di un ora e mostra con semplicità come grazie all Amore e a Grandi abbracci verso gli altri si può superare qualsiasi dolore e maltrattamento. Animazioni semplici ma piacevoli, i personaggi hanno delle teste enormi e Grandi occhioni tenerissimi, C'è Commedia avvolta nel dramma ma la storia è un po' troppo sempliciotta, con tante convenienze che aiutano e coccolano il protagonista in difficoltà rendendo troppo facile e senza ostacoli il percorso per trovare la vera felicità, in piu non ho amato come le figure femminili chiave per questi bambini vengono mostrate come dei mostri incapaci di…
NZIFF #2 - The first scene of the movie made me worried about the lengths it might push the idea that "this animation is for adults", but was followed by the sweetest and the most heartwarming nature of children and adults alike. 110% purity.
A surprisingly tender look at a child's life after he's put in foster care. It's got its happy moments and it's sad ones, but it all comes together in the end.
The animation throughout the film is absolutely superb. Stop Motion animation is quite possibly my favorite form of animation out there, and it just looks so beautiful here. Everything from the character designs to its overall atmosphere is crafted in great detail.
I guess the only shortcoming of the film is it's story. For what it is I found it to be quite effective, but there's only so much you can do in an hour. Some scenes felt a bit rushed and I kinda just wanted a little bit…
I try to go into most films blind, knowing as little as possible about the contents beforehand so that my opinion of the film is not tainted by the discourse surrounding it and I can meet the film on its own terms.
Sometimes this backfires in a big way.
Before watching this movie I didn't do any research beyond looking at the cover art, the selected critics quotes and having a vague memory of it appearing briefly at the Academy Awards. As such I was expecting a quirky and imaginative comedy with maybe a little pathos on the side. I was not prepared.
This movie is actually depression porn about an orphanage where all the children have been through traumatic…
I like to go into movies blind, knowing as little as possible about the film beforehand so I can see it with fresh eyes not blinded by the general "discourse".
Sometimes that can backfire.
I had no idea what this movie would be, and the limited marketing I've seen (the cover art with critic's quotes and it's brief appearance at the Oscars) gave me the wrong impression entirely.
I was expecting a wacky and imaginative comedy with maybe some "unexpected" pathos. Yeah, no, this is depression porn.
I wouldn't call the film manipulative, exactly, since from the start it makes it clear what we're in for. 66 minutes of the film hitting us over the head with "isn't this horrible?…
My Life As a Zucchini is a perfect example of the 'sad kids are sad' subgenre of films, a subgenre that consistently work on me. There's no better place for this than an orphanage, where Claude Barras' stop-motion film is set. However, this is no misery porn. My Life As a Zucchini might focus on adorably-animated children recovering from abuse or abandonment, but it's also a tribute to resiliency, to the ability of the young human mind to incorporate the bad into its gray matter but nevertheless seek out the joyful at every opportunity. The French have a long tradition of bittersweet films about childhood, spanning from Francois Truffaut to writer Celine Sciamma's other work, and Barras' beautiful tale fits squarely in that tradition. A-
Full review at www.mediocremovie.club/side-pieces/my-life-as-a-zucchini
"La vida de Calabacín" nos habla de la infancia, de la amistad, del amor y de la familia. Todo ello visto a través de los inmensos ojos de varios niños que viven en un horfanato.
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