Michael's Movie Grade: A+
This animated movie from France and Belgium is one of my favorite movies of the year.
This movie falls a little girl from her birth to three years old, with the girl narrating the story for us.
From this simple premise comes one of the smartest and most insightful films, I have seen in quite a while. Telling this story directly from the point of view from such a young child proved to be a brilliant idea. When you are a child, everything is new to you and because of this, the joyous moments feel more joyful, and the sad moments feel sadder. Very early on, this movie puts us directly in this state of mind. We feel these emotions in that exact same way. There are times when this movie makes us feel the greatest joy at the absolute simplicist of moments such as running through the flowers on a spring day or feeling rain fall down upon you or seeing the ocean. At the same time, you feel great sorrow over the idea of someone you love having to leave. This is one of the most emotional rides I have had in a movie theatre in a long time. All of this is helped by a gorgeous art style that captures how beautiful the world can look to us when we are that young.
Even if this movie focuses on a young child, its insights into life are very important to anyone any age. It talks about how nothing and no one is truly lost if they live on in our memories. This is a very real and insightful message that helps us with the painful emotions we experience without sugarcoating anything. The message is also told to us in a very intelligent and insightful way, with some truly well-written dialogue.
As smart and mature as this movie is, it is not one of those artsy animated films that can only be enjoyed by adults. This film is completely approachable to a child of any age, and it is never too early to introduce them to a great work of art.
If you watch this film in theaters, it will be accompanied by a short film, titled Éiru, from the Irish animation studio, Cartoon Saloon. This is a delightful short film that is well written, very creative and full of fantastic artwork.
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain is a must see for fans of mature, smart and insightful animated films. It is a pure masterpiece.
No comments:
Post a Comment