Republished from the show notes of my other site, Fuds on Film.
We spoke about this on an episode back in July 2017, so I’ll perhaps give an even more hastily abridged version than normal, but we liked it very much back then and at the risk of spoiling the result of this review, nothing has happened in the intervening years to make me reconsider that opinion.
Taken into a children’s home after accidentally killing his drunken layabout of a mother, Icare, preferring to be called Courgette, struggles to fit in alongside the his fellow children that the world has damaged in various heart-rending ways. However, an already disrupted life is further beturmoiled when Camille arrives, and steals Courgette’s heart. Metaphorically. It’s not literally heart-rending.
Claude Barras has picked an interesting and unique style for this animation, perhaps most closely resembling the drawings the film’s subjects might make themselves, but, of course rather more beautifully realised.
Rather like Mary and Max, it despite the style it ploughs some dark places for themes and comes out much the stronger for it, particularly when leavened with a great deal of humour and humanity. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but this is a really good film and I recommend it highly.