2023-06-14 07:44:54
Marcel the shell (with his shoes) **
the Dean Fleischer camp
American animated film, 1:30
What a strange object this film is! Marcel the shell (with his shoes) is akin to those hybrid works dear to the Annecy Animation Film Festival, which is in full swing this week. Combining animated images and live action, this feature film had an astonishing career, which led it to the Oscars.
In the manner ofForbidden to dogs and Italiansa wonderful film on the family memory of its director, Alain Ughetto, in which he staged himself during discussions with the figurines of his grandparents, Dean Fleischer-Camp’s film is also presented as a documentary, but does not only appearances.
An adorable thumb-sized seashell
After leaving his wife, a documentary filmmaker moves into a rental house and has an unusual encounter there: Marcel, an adorable thumb-sized shell with a pair of eyes and shoes. The young mollusk has been living there with his doting grandmother, Connie, since they were separated from the rest of his family. In his slightly hoarse childish voice, Marcel willingly recounts his life and that of his family.
Over the course of the exchanges between Marcel and his roommate, the latter, moved by his story, offers to help him find his loved ones by posting wanted videos online. But word of mouth is such that the house becomes the scene of a media circus that upsets the quiet life of the peaceful shells.
Refuse the mirages of notoriety
Mise en abyme of the viral success of Marcel’s first audiovisual sketches (50 million views on YouTube) created in early 2010 by Dean Fleischer-Camp and his companion Jenny Slate, the “voice” of the shell, this feature film suffers from a few lengths, but is deeper than it seems.
Refusing the mirages of notoriety, Marcel wonders about the meaning of his existence, cherishing the wisdom of his grandmother (voiced by Isabella Rossellini) who teaches him to serenely welcome the impermanence of things and the cycles of life.
#Marcel #coquillage #sends #message #hope