Life is bleak on the island after an "industrial accident" destroyed most life and left its remaining peoples to scramble amongst piles of rust and garbage to survive. Teenager Dinky wants only to run away, leave the island and find a better life, but she also wants to persuade Birdboy, a solitary youth who is shunned by most, takes drugs all the time (to subdue the demon living inside him) and rarely talks, to come away with her, for Dinky loves Birdboy. But Birdboy has his own joys and sorrows, the former being flying and his ability to seed the scorched earth with new life via glowing acorns and the latter being the murder of his father by police who misunderstood his purpose. He is not too sure how long he can continue in his life, and in the meantime Dinky and her friends plan their escape, while trying to avoid the clutches of the trash- dwelling rodents who call themselves "the forgotten children".... This is an animated film that began life in 2012 as a short and was subsequently expanded to full length by the two directors, Alberto Vasquez and Pedro Rivero. It is beautifully wrought, a piece of gorgeous (if often bleak) drawing, and the characters really get under your skin. But oh, it's so tragic for everyone involved; although the final images show a kind of beautiful transcendence, by then this viewer's heart was already completely broken by the pathos of it all. If you don't mind having your heart broken by film (as I don't), then give yourself the haunting pleasure of seeing this film!
Review of Birdboy: The Forgotten Children
