From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie The Red Turtle released in 2016.
Starring:
Emmanuel Garijo, Tom Hudson, Baptiste Goy
Directed by:
Michael Dudok de Wit
Genre:
Animation, Fantasy
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Rating:
PG
Budget:
Not Available
Current IMDb Rating When Reviewed:
7.6
The Synopsis is:
An unnamed man is shipwrecked on a small deserted island in the middle of the ocean. In spite of all of his efforts a rather large red turtle keeps him from leaving the island.
Story:
Michael Dudok de Wit directed a short film Father and Daughter released in 2000 which caught the attention of Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli (ji-bu-ri). If you are not familiar with Studio Ghibli they are a Japanese animation film studio best known for anime feature films like Spirited Away (2001) Tales from Earthsea (2006), and My Neighbor Totoro (1988). You may hear Americans pronounce the name of the studio phonetically, Studio Ghibli, but the Japanese pronounce it Studio Ji-bu-ri.
They sent an email to Michael asking if they could distribute his short film Father and Daughter in Japan and if he would make a feature film for them. They were open to anything that Michael had in mind.
Michael took a half a year to write the script and four years to draw out the storyboards for the film. He also got many suggestions that guided his work by the heads of Studio Ghibli, especially, Isao Takahata (E-saw Ta-ka-ha-ta) director of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Ka-gu-ya) released in 2013.
Further work on the screenplay was also done with Pascale Ferran to hash out more nuanced character details.
The story in the whole of it is really a basic story of a human lifetime coincidentally loosely similar to an old Japanese fable Urashima TarÅ wherein a fisherman saves a turtle as well as a few other fables to do with animal spirits. It is the way that the film visually tells the story virtually without dialogue or narration which immediately takes the modern viewer out of their comfort zone and right away that delighted me.
It was actually kind of surprising because many negative reviews have commented that the lack of dialogue was the film’s main detriment and the story felt too basic.
That was on the contrary for me because, I loved the challenge of trying to visually figure out what is happening like you would if you were watching a ballet or a piece of art you have to interpret.
And I felt that there was a very clear language in the film that got me to feel emotionally invested in the characters. In that way, I find this to be a timeless story quite brilliantly using simple methods. I am completely impressed by what this film was able to do.
Pacing:
At 1 hour and 20 minutes the film feels like 2 hours. Its really slow, but all of the scenes, as slow as they are, actually mean something so to really enjoy the pacing you’ll have to let the film take you on it’s journey. It really pays off in the end.
Challenge:
The challenge in the film are the various struggles that the man on the island is going through.
I hope you won't mind that I spend some time in this review recapping the events of the film so that you really get a picture of many of my points and how I arrived at them.
Empathy:
I had so much empathy for the man on the island nearly immediately. As soon as he arrives on the island he uses his resources to try as hard as he can to see if anyone else lives on the island, find food, water.
There is one scene where the man falls into a chasm with water at the bottom of it, just when you think things couldn’t get any worse. I was on the edge of my seat when he got caught underwater in between the rocks trying to escape. I thought to myself, “Well I guess the rest of the film will be about the turtle.” It’s very gripping and I had a definite sigh of relief when he narrowly escapes.
His driving desire is to go home because even though he has figured out everything he needs to survive on the island, he is still alone and the film visually shows you his loneliness.
You really spend time with the loneliness too. It’s a lot different than just having him say, “I’m lonely” and rush off to the next moment of action. The long scenes are there to show us the weight of time and what it’s psychologically doing to our main character.
He has a dream in which his mind creates a bridge between the island and civilization which helps us to understand his motivation. The dreams are a link to desires as it is used many times in the film.
Every time he tries to leave, a large underwater creature is destroying his rafts. Soon he discovers that it is a humongous red turtle that is preventing him from leaving the island.
So here is where we get into spoilers and if you haven’t seen the movie, I really want you to see the film before we go into this any further. Because I really want to dive into this.
The red turtle goes to the island and there is a confrontation with the man where he angrily hits the turtle and flips it over.
Again he has another dream that communicates to the audience that there is some remorse for what he has done when he thinks that he has killed the turtle. This particular dream sequence shows us that he is trying to prevent the soul of the turtle from leaving earth. He wants to save the turtle.
He tries to bring the turtle back to life and through his caring, the turtle turns into a woman. At first, it’s unsure whether she is alive or not, but through his caring for the turtle and the woman, she eventually comes to life.
She sends her tortoise shell into the ocean signifying her devotion of her new life as a human with him on the island. She has given up her turtle body to be human, with him.
It inspires him to send his raft into the ocean as well to signify his surrender to stay on the island with her. His surrender is wonderfully displayed, with his arms outstretched and his body limp of control. He is allowing the unknown to happen.
And instead of running away from the island where he once felt as its prisoner, the island becomes their island and he learns to coexist with nature and love. It becomes their Garden of Eden to live as they please happily.
Without speaking, you can understand what they are saying to each other. You see how the woman gestures to the man that he is forgiven. This needs no words to be spoken or a narrator to spell it out for you. You can feel the words.
Their relationship is told in beautiful moments where she leads and he follows making her his guide to find happiness in their companionship. They float on air as one might feel when in love while gorgeous music reaches a climax. It brings a tear to my eye every time.
The man and woman have a son and at first they are a strong unit. But then as he grows we get the sense of separation from the family unit when he becomes a man. Within a dream sequence he sees his parents on their own path happy together because they are together. He is now the lonely one seeking something unknown for himself in the horizon.
Again the dream sequence demonstrates his desire to leave the nest. It really breaks my heart to see that scene when he tells his parents he’s leaving in the film’s non dialogue language. You know what he’s saying. All of the correct gestures are there. There is a lot of foreshadowing that he will leave, but one big one is where is parents teach him about the outside world.
Technical:
The technical aspects of this film really shines. There is something very gritty almost vintage about the visuals reminiscent of mature animated films from the 1980’s such as Fire and Ice released in 1983 and Heavy Metal released in 1981. If you have seen all three films you’ll know what I mean.
Coincidentally, Michael Dudok de Wit worked on the Den sequence in the movie Heavy Metal.
Many people mistake this film for being a fully 2D animated feature, but it actually has some 3D animation wisely used in a very harmonious way to the style of the film. It doesn’t upstage it or even feel like CGI (the turtle was CGI).
But what this film proves in a time when most animated films that are currently being made are 3D, 2D animation is not outdated as long as the art and story are both compelling.
The drawings of the human characters are pretty simple even using dots for eyes. As well there are very few close up scenes of them either. They are often seen from far away views as to drive home the feeling of isolation.
Most of the details are in the surroundings on the island. The leaves, the sand, the water, all have a work of art grit to each scene as if nature is the most important thing in the scene. And the island itself is a character. It’s gorgeous and each part of the island is handcrafted with so much care and love for the details. Every scene is nothing short of a delicate work of art you could find yourself easily escaping in.
Much of the movement of the human characters feel very 3 dimensional, especially in the beginning when the man is frantically trying to figure out how to survive on the island. They could have been CGI. There is no information on that, but if it’s not, the character’s body language and movement almost seemed rotoscoped, which is where the animation is drawn on top of footage of a live action performance. It was very lifelike.
The sound design was especially fantastic. There was lots of care put into that as well, capturing all of the possible sounds in nature without sounding scary or overwhelming. There were even faint sounds of characters breathing which really added body to the project.
The incredible music for the film was composed by Laurent Perez Del Mar M.D.. Words to describe the music is ethereal, majestic, epic, and even divine. There is a sense that what we are seeing is bigger than what it is because it represents humanity in a rudimentary situation.
The music is hardly used in the first half of the film, but grows slowly. Placed at the right moments it enhanced my experience as I could begin to feel and emotional understanding of the lives of these beautiful yet simple characters. And they are simple because they represent everyone. And although I don’t have a significant other or any children I can identify with their bond to one another as a universal sentiment.
It doesn’t need to be translated from country to country it just needs to be watched with the whole of oneself. It’s a wonderful experience, through a weeping body of strings, echoing angelic operatics, tear inducing climaxes and hauntingly bellowing cellos.
Without the music, the film would have far less of an impact.
Performances:
The performances were ambiguous in the film, but they are there revealed in the animation of the characters when they emote and when the five voice actors get to contribute.
And to me the performances were perfect and harmoniously used in the film.
Best:
I enjoyed the serious tone of the film. I’m glad there weren’t any slapstick moments, but a few moments when characters are being themselves. A cute grouping of scavenger hermit crabs that inhabit the island provided some delightful laughs.
I really enjoyed the idea of using dream sequences to emote psychological motivations for the characters which I enjoyed.
I loved the detail of animating the woman and her child swimming with their arms like sea turtles swim.
And I enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve discussed about the film so far, story, music, animation, you name it.
The Ending:
The ending is nothing short of breathtakingly transcendent and sentimental. I cried like a baby and that truly surprised me.
The man dies and the woman turns back into the turtle. What?!
And this creates a slew of questions not meant to be answered churning in your mind for days.
What ever happened to the son? Was he a hybrid? Did he live with humans or did he live with the turtles? Did he turn into a turtle? Did he ever reunite with his mother?
Was the turtle a sea witch trapping men on the island? Was she the turtle that the man picks up as baby trying to get to the ocean and he imprinted on her by accident and that is the reason she loves him? Did the man imagine it all, and she was always a turtle?
I love those questions because like life, there are often no answers. This lets your imagination run wild. It lends a realistic mythical element to the film.
The moon plays a big part in the life of the man because it may be the only friend he has in his loneliness. It is the last thing he sees when he dies.
Wish List:
I don’t know if I would really wish for anything because it might change the balance of the experience you get while watching the film… especially the ending.
Sure, the story could have been done in about 20 to 30 minutes and ebbs along slowly at times, but I am not sure we’d get the same effect at the very last shot of the film. I think the reason why I got so emotional at the end was because I felt as if the man was a friend I spent time with and I did, for 80 minutes. So at the fear it would ruin something so rare and special, I don’t think that I could wish for anything different in this film in good conscience. It would ruin the magic.
Enjoyment:
Being the first non-Japanese film to be produced by Studio Ghibli was both a leg up and a crutch for the film. It had rave reviews of praise even being nominated for an Oscar. However, there were a few negative reviews because it is not like any Studio Ghibli films and people felt disappointed by the hype.
I hate to admit this but I haven’t seen any Studio Ghibli films, as of yet. I hope to change that in the very near future. Although, I did see The Last Unicorn, which I reviewed, featuring some of the animation from Topcraft, before the artist there founded Studio Ghibli.
My point is that I know of them, but I am not part of their fan base as of before this film, so I wasn’t privy to the hype around the film. I didn’t see the trailer for the film (which contains some spoilers), any reviews, interviews, nor any other posters except for the one with gorgeous still of the turtle on the cover. I had no preconceived notions, hype or agenda besides curiosity.
After watching a slew of movies that I needed to review and feeling a bit in a slump, not feeling much passion for why I enjoyed the movies.
This was the movie that turned it all around for me and got me so excited to talk about what I saw.
I was haunted by its beauty for days after seeing it and curious about how this seemingly simple film was able to bring out more emotion in me than most other films I had seen in months. And not just any emotion but, feelings of compassion, love, and a feeling of gratitude considering that the film is essentially a tragedy if you consider that the man never leaves the island. It is the simple pleasurable moments in his life that make it right.
You get a unique story that feels like folklore or a fairy tale told by a campfire. It’s minimal, universal and simply stunning with a surprisingly deep emotional language that really touched me. I absolutely love this film.
My Rating:
9.1
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it. This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!
Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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