My Life as a Courgette, 2016.
Directed by Claude Barras.
Featuring the voice talents of Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat, Paulin Jaccoud and Michel Vuillermoz.
SYNOPSIS:
Courgette is the nick-name given to a nine year old boy by his alcoholic mother. When she dies in an accident, he’s sent to an orphanage, but struggles to find his place among the other children. But new arrival, Camille, offers a first glimpse of hope, as does a kind hearted cop.
Swiss stop motion animation My Life as a Courgette comes with one of the strangest titles of the year, although that’s probably the result of translation. It doesn’t need that additional “A”, because the Courgette of the title is a little boy. His real name is Icare – appropriate, given his love of kite flying – but his abusive, alcoholic mother prefers to call him Courgette. And this tender little story is about how he starts to find his place in the world, despite all the obstacles put in his way.
The clay figures follow in the illustrious footsteps of Aardman Animations, but in their own distinctive style. Here, the characters all have huge appealing eyes and small yet remarkably expressive mouths. Add to that some quirky, yet not out of place, colour choices – Courgette has dark blue hair – and the result is strikingly beautiful. And when it’s mixed with something hand drawn, it’s even better: it rains a lot when Courgette lives at home and you can almost feel the wet.
Adults don’t get a great rep in the film – at least, not to start with. There’s Courgette’s mother, constantly downing beer and shouting at him, and Camille, his friend at the orphanage, is the subject of a custody battle. She’s hoping against hope that she won’t have to live with her obnoxious aunt who is only interested in her for one reason: the allowance that comes with her. But they’re balanced by more sympathetic characters. The orphanage staff are caring and thoughtful and there’s cop Raymond, who comes across Courgette after the accident that kills his mother. He forms a bond with the child, visits him regularly and is the first consistent adult in the sad little boy’s life. It takes him time to adjust and learn to trust, but it brings its own rewards.
For a film about love, trust and sentiment, it’s deeply unsentimental and much of that is down to the children themselves. The more resilient ones – Camille and the often difficult Simon – take a pragmatic approach to their situation and their respective pasts, pulling everybody together to make the best of what they’ve got. With some of them, the damage is obvious: one little girl uses her hair to disguise the scar around her eye, another one thinks her mother has come to take her home every time she hears a car and a little boy regularly wets the bed. Physical scars or otherwise, what they’ve gone through at the hands of adults has left its mark. Yet their experiences haven’t rubbed out their innocent view of the world, which is the source of much of the film’s humour. The strange behaviour of adults is a constant fascination.
The film also has the wonderful ability to change the mood of a scene in the blink of an eye, from happiness to sadness before you know it. There’s a moment when the children are on a skiing holiday in the mountains and are having a great time – until they spot a boy of their own age being fussed over by his m other. They all stop and stare, the child and his mother stare back and the gulf between them is immeasurable, full of pain and longing. It’s a remarkable achievement, given that it’s clay figures on the screen, but by this stage they’ve become living, breathing people in our eyes.
Touching and charming at the same time, My Life as a Courgette is about children but it’s not for them. Youngsters will find it too wordy and some of the subject matter simply isn’t suitable for them. Older ones and teenagers will get it and appreciate the respect with which it treats children, while adults will simply lap it up, relishing its depth and beauty. It’s a little triumph.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Freda Cooper – Follow me on Twitter, check out my movie blog and listen to my podcast, Talking Pictures.
Originally published June 3, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
