The Red Turtle (Michaël Dudok de Wit)

[Philip J. Fry]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/The_Red_Turtle.png

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw7BggqBpTk

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3666024/) / wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Turtle) / RT (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_red_turtle/)

Official website (http://sonyclassics.com/theredturtle/)

[Philip J. Fry]

http://i.imgur.com/JLy72SS.jpg
*squints* THEY'RE SKINNY DIPPING!!

The Red Turtle.
Michaël Dudok de Wit, 2016.

Synopsis: A man gets shipwrecked on a deserted island meets a giant red turtle.

How does it look? Hergé + Ghibli. It also reminded me a little of Cartoon Saloon. You do the math.

What about it? Sometimes the most profound truths and emotions lie in the most simple and primal places and this film is proof of it. With no dialogue, relying instead in music and visuals we have, well, life. And that's the best I can say about this film. Every frame has a lot of symbolism, in every scene you feel you discover something and it's biggest strength, I think, is how matter of fact it feels about life: A cycle of life, death and love.

Final thoughts: Top tier Ghibli (even if it's not a Ghibli film per se).

[megladon8]

I had to do a double take because I thought the thread title said the director was Michael Dudikoff.

Man, from American Ninja to directing Studio Ghibli stuff? That's quite a career.

[Philip J. Fry]

I had to do a double take because I thought the thread title said the director was Michael Dudikoff.

Man, from American Ninja to directing Studio Ghibli stuff? That's quite a career.Hahah! :p

[Henry Gale]

Yeah, it's beautiful. Not just obviously with its visuals but with its sound, ideas and thematic vastness. For a film so wordless and poetic, I find it a bit jarring to sit and try and articulate big wordy spiels about it. I just want to throw my hands at it to say, "Look!"

Despite its openness of time and place and absence of language, I'm not sure it has the universality or obvious potency to its story for everyone, but you'll know pretty soon into it if it speaks to you, and I was very happy it struck a chord with me.

***½ / 8.7

[Idioteque Stalker]

The first act is immaculate. All the little critters are a joy to behold yet it still retains a strong sense of solitude. The sound design in particular deserves praise--that moment when you think a train is approaching and then it begins raining took my breath away.

I don't love where this film goes though. The kid is fine, but the romantic aspect was played up in a way I felt undermined the "natural circle of life" metaphor central to the film. Dancing in the moonlight just before an old person dies was especially groan-worthy. I'd much rather the humans be treated with the same naturalistic detachment as the seal, crabs, etc.

Overall a yay, but I was let down after the fantastic opening.

[Stay Puft]

Ah, I didn't post anything about this...


Overall a yay, but I was let down after the fantastic opening.

I had sort of a similar experience. My big problem with the film was the pacing. The opening act is more leisurely in its pacing, mysterious, beautiful and beguiling as it establishes the setting, characters, etc. It's wonderful, as you describe. But after the turtle shows up, the trajectory is predictable and the tempo seemingly adjusts for this (jumping rapidly through time, i.e. the requisite narrative beats, to get to the end). I found it a lot less interesting and my attention even started to drift at a couple times.

The ending itself is beautiful, I really liked it (and liked the film overall), but yeah I thought the first half was a lot stronger than the second half.

[Philip J. Fry]

The ending itself is beautiful, I really liked it (and liked the film overall), but yeah I thought the first half was a lot stronger than the second half.Dat tsunami tho.

[Philip J. Fry]

https://youtu.be/ZuolRGvQnW8

[Grouchy]

Beautiful film. That video does strike a few points that occured me but I also thought of completely different things like the idea of "taming" the wild and the aggresiveness inherent to survival. So, I guess being a silent fantasy movie makes it a good candidate for multiple interpretations.