Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner
Cast: Lambert Wilson, Pauline Brunner, Anne-Marie Loop, Dominique Maurin,
Running time: 80 mins
Plot: The story of the forbidden friendship between a busking bear, and a mutinous mouse.
This quaint film is based on a series of books by the same name, written by Gabrielle Vincent, and is set in a densely dark and carefully constructed world. Although aimed at children, it is a depiction of a segregated society, where mice live in the sewers, bears rule above ground, and never the twain shall meet, or at least that’s the way it is supposed to be.
However, when Celestine (Brunner), a feisty free-thinking mouse, encounters and helps Ernest (Wilson), a clumsy diurnal bear who loves sweets, they embark upon an adorable friendship together. Their path is fraught with danger from the outset, due to society’s view of their relationship, but whilst these challenges befall them as individuals, together they are a force to be reckoned with, and will fight against the tenuously bureaucratic society they inhabit.
ERNEST AND CELESTINE excels at dealing with serious subject matter in a light-hearted child-friendly manner. It depicts the police forces (both bear and mouse), as well as nearly all other authority figures, as ridiculously ignorant masses, who frantically fall all over themselves in a bid to control that which they don’t understand. It is very satisfying on numerous levels, and hilarious too.
The film is open and honest to children within its subtext, but also promotes a positive attitude, which could help subconsciously prepare them for some of the real problems life will almost inevitably throw at them. Whether watched by an adult reading the text closely, or a child merely enjoying the story, characters, and animation, ERNEST AND CELESTINE is definitely worthy of the effort.
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