CFUV @ VFF 2017: Ma Vie de Courgette

It’s no surprise that Ma Vie de Courgette (My Life as a Zucchini) is Oscar nominated.  The story has all the elements of real life: sadness, confusion, loneliness, friendship, quarrels, laughter and joy.  It’s colourful, and the stop-motion animation is amazing … how did they manage to catch the nuances of emotional eyeplay (being able to read changes in emotions by looking in the eyes, is there a word for that)?

Also, despite all the ups and downs, Zucchini has a happy ending.  It’s a delightful and educational and entertaining story for children and their adult who are given the gift of a pathway into some difficult discussions.  Take your kid to see Zucchini and you’ll be able to more easily tackle difficult topics like drug addiction, abuse, violence, sexuality, and divorce.

It’s such a great film that, if it was Hollywood, there’d be action figures and clothing lines on sale at the local cheap crappy “food” establishments.  But it’s not (though there’s news of an English dub version with voices from Ellen Page, Nick Offerman and others), it’s Swiss, and prior to the VFF 2017 screening Switzerland’s Consulate General, who had travelled over from Vancouver, told us the film was 10 years in the making.  It took 10 months to make, at 4 seconds a day, and each second contains 12 different images.  There are over 56 puppets, and you can check out the “how they made it” video here.

He also mentioned it’s screening in Vancouver later in February.  Take a youngster, and be prepared to laugh.  And maybe cry, too.  The story’s wonderful, if a bit unrealistic (if only life had such happy endings) but, your kids (and the kid in you) will love it.

Oh, and be sure to sit through the credits.

-Janine

For more of CFUV’s VFF coverage click here.