My Life as a Courgette review: Claude Barras’ directorial debut is fantastical delight worthy of your attention.
My Life as a Courgette review by Awais Irfan, Sydney Film Festival 2017.
The French stop-motion picture My Life As A Courgette – the Academy-Award nominated animation you probably heard the rave for but never decided to seek out or look into – has finally opened in UK cinemas and it is every bit as fantastical and wonderful as you have imagined.
Based on Gilles Paris’ French novel, Autobiographie d’une Courgette, director Claude Barras makes his directorial debut with My Life As A Courgette (or My Life As A Zucchini in some parts of the world), a story which follows the life of troubled 9-year-old Icare – nicknamed “Courgette”. Courgette isn’t the poster-boy for having a normal family and life. With an absent father and an alcoholic mother that passes away, Courgette soon he finds himself orphaned and sent off to a children’s home where he meets other children who, like him, have “nobody left to love them”. It is at the orphanage where the youngsters find strength and happiness with each other through their similar struggles.
Barras directs from a screenplay penned by Cèline Sciamma, who also wrote last year’s superb coming-of-age drama Girlhood. And like Girlhood, My Life as a Courgette is a film that is all about its characters dealing with big issues and it’s in those quieter character beats in which the film finds itself and really shines. It’s hard to not find yourself caring for these kids, with their simplistically modelled designs matching their simple personas. Of course, we’re peering into this story through the eyes of a 9-year-old, and there’s a playful and innocuous sense of naïvety and whimsy to the proceedings here. His friendship with the others – most especially Camille – is touching and relatable (we all love our friends and have those deep, special friendships we value and cherish so much). There is also something incredibly beautiful about children finding solidarity amongst each other. They feel real, flawed, honest and downright normal kids. And the screenplay never shies away from this and it’s all the more genuine and impactful as a result.
Barras’ direction reveals a promising and very capable new director; opting for longer, more intimate takes rather than quick edits and is able to take such heavy yet important themes and ideas such as abuse and loneliness and make it so accessible for all the youngsters that watch. However, at the same time, this is never a film that once panders to audiences and instead, respects them and deals with its story and characters with such maturity and lauded nuance – it’s thoroughly refreshing to see such a mature animated film too. Of course, the stop-motion work is unequivocal: vibrantly hued, crafted with a necessary and brilliant attention to detail.
My Life As A Courgette is funny, touching, and yet, also deeply stirring and emotional too. It’s a mature, nuanced animation that is so accessible and tremendous for not only younger audiences but older ones too. It’s quite evident why this was nominated for Best Animated Feature back in February. It’s truly astounding. This is not only one of the best animations of the year, but it’s one of the best films of the year. Perhaps of many years. It’s such a beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable delight to watch.
