18/16
During a time of war, a poor woodcutter and his wife live in a vast forest. One day, the woman finds and rescues a baby girl, bringing an irreversible change to the couple’s lives and to those whose paths the child crosses. Here is Michel Hazanavicius's first animated film. World War II is one of the darkest periods of humanity. A time when humanity only swore a gray war, when the world witnessed the extent of human cruelty. A time when rebirth, redemption and peace were promised. The hand of Faith struck Europe in its most usual terrible way, the steep debt of the Great War and the lost generation towering over it. The world stood still, not because of Schick, or at least not only because of him, but because of what lies beneath. The world’s greatest tragedy to date faces an ever darker future. Germany was in ruins, having just lost the war, the faith of its people and the power of its empire. Revenge was sworn for the humiliation. A few years after that remarkably dark period, there was a humble old German woodworker couple. The man goes to cut down big trees and the woman bundles small branches. Both spend a hard day’s work to reach a small house in the middle of the forest, where a bowl of soup and a tired old dog await. The woman never had a child, the woman begs everything that exists, to have abandoned God or to have never known Him. She pleads with the sky, the wood, and even the train gods for a train. And one day the train gods answered her prayers. In that empty corner of the forest, the train pushed through the white winter snow, slowly but surely reaching its dreaded destination. And one day the baby is thrown from the train only for the old woodwoman to pick it up. A heartless thing for some, but not for her. The result is a beautifully crafted tragedy, a story of humanity: the loving force within it that builds and sacrifices, and the inherently evil side that takes revenge and revenge. Michel Hazanavicius’ animated film borrows a highly comedic style that takes you into the heart of an enchanted forest, combined with its quirky cast of characters and the grim setting of World War II, it’s one of the finest tearjerkers in years. A beautiful farewell to Jean Louis Trintignant’s brilliant career.