6/10
Many of the most original animated films in recent years have been made in France
2 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Ernest & Celestine, A Town Called Panic, The Little Prince, April and the Extraordinary World, Long Way North, Mune: Guardian of the Moon, The Day of the Crows, Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells, and now My Life as a Courgette.

I have been following animated titles closely for the past years. Japan repeats its own tropes. Other Asian countries try new things such as live action puppets / cgi hybrids which have good comedic value, but tends to get old soon. American studio's often have their main focus on agenda rather than content. Russian seems to be so unknown that no one knows about Snow Queen and how Frozen (despite me loving that film) is basically a rip off of it. Other countries have mainly been dropping single titles which end up being disappointing.

France is by no means ahead of USA and Japan, but they have confirmed their place as good 3rd. Their main problem being how little animation films they make, despite them having the biggest rate on creating good movies. My Life as a Courgette is once again a worthy title.

The movie does an impressive job by being a serious work about life and its problems. While the movie follows young people and their daily life, it is not aimed for young audience - yet is completely suitable for children as well. The movie is rather substance heavy with dramatic concepts which not just any youngster nor even viewer could understand. The impressive part being how much depth the characters have on their personas -despite their young age- and how much realism they deliver.

The style is original in the French style. Subdued and minimalist, yet every part is clearly put together with care and lot of planning. I will use the word "fitting" to describe the character design, just because I couldn't imagine them looking any other way. Each character is also made with a lot of care and planning. The opposite from Japanese movies where you can tell the main character from rest of the folks by just looking the hair color. In this movie, none of the characters are a filler.

"The night out shot in snowy forest" scene gave me chills. The OST and bgm managed to surprise me as well. I would go as far and say that French animation movies have made me appreciate the French language which I have always found ugly sounding. It wouldn't be the same movie without the French voice actors.

This is really a quality animation film from every aspect. It isn't the best thing ever, but surely an amazing animation title when comparing to general standard. I can not but recommend this to every who enjoys mature content and animation movies. I hope a lot of parents show this movie to their children as well because it has so much to offer.
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