Sounds great, right?
Setting the sarcasm aside for a second, it actually is pretty great. It's called My Life as a Zucchini (Ma vie de Courgette), and it was one of the five animated features nominated for an Oscar in 2017.
Here are a few thoughts I jotted down shortly after viewing it:
A real revelation, this one.
I'm a sucker for claymation, so that wasn't the shocking part. And the story itself wasn't particularly revolutionary (though using that particular medium to tell it was certainly unusual). For me, the most revelatory part was the subtlety with which the characters and the story were allowed to unfold.
[REDACTED, BECAUSE SPOILERS]
It's an unexpectedly (and wonderfully) hopeful film—far more moving than I was anticipating, and far more so then it would have been had it followed the tropes and stereotypes it suggested at its beginnings. (Jeffrey Overstreet says it better than I, so go listen to him when you get a chance.)
He makes an important point: It's not for little kids. I started watch it with a couple of mine, in fact, and had to shut it off until they had headed to bed. Thankfully, I returned, though, because it would have been a shame to miss it. (You know what it kind-of-reminds me of, both in terms of its style and the weightiness of its themes? Mary and Max.)
It's currently streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT.
After losing his mother, a young boy is sent to a foster home with other orphans his age. There, he begins to learn the meaning of trust and true love.
Attribution(s): All posters, publicity images, and stills are the property of GKIDS Films and other respective production studios and distributors.