one of the best cartoons of 2023
[ad_1]
In Russian cinemas there is a Spanish-French animated film “Robot Dreams” directed by Pablo Berger, a funny and sad story about the struggle against loneliness, which the heroes wage with varying success, and it is not clear whether they win in the end.
Is it possible to overcome loneliness in a big city? What if this is New York? What if you are a dog?
The latter, however, is not scary: New York, in which the full-length cartoon “Robot Dreams” takes place, is populated by animals, and the Dog there is a respected citizen who has a job, an apartment in a tolerable area, a TV, a microwave and a credit card. And around there are lions, eagles and partridges. There are just no people, but there are antlered deer. And many other animals too. Hares, cunning types. Anteaters, vile creatures. Gorilla – expectedly serves in the police. And so on.
Everything is fine with the Dog, but the Dog has no friend. The dog looks out the window, outside the window, across the road – another house, another window, in the window there is a happy couple: Elk and Cow. Yes, we need to warn the viewer, the viewer has become vulnerable today: the animals in this depicted New York form very strange families, but nothing that is now considered extremism on the territory of the Russian Federation is happening on camera. Traditional values are not in danger, 102 minutes of screen time – and not a single gender-neutral toilet. During the course of the action, the Dog tries to have an affair with the Duck, but the Duck is definitely a girl, and the Dog is just a boy.
Let us return, however, from our reality (although it is increasingly difficult to believe in the reality of this reality of ours) to cartoon reality. Moose and Cow are watching TV, there is popcorn on the table, there is happiness all around. The dog, who is driven into depression by the contemplation of someone else’s happiness, also turns on the TV, and there is an advertisement: conquer loneliness, buy a robot! And, of course, the Dog buys the Robot.
The film by Spanish director Pablo Berger (by the way, you might have seen his Snow White, which was almost nominated for an Oscar in 2012, but it didn’t work out) turned out to be good. And sad. And cheerful. The robot makes the dog happy. The robot banishes loneliness. However, meeting is a step towards separation, behind joy there is trouble, behind happiness there is pain. Not that these are any particularly breakthrough truths, but I’ll tell you one important secret: in fact, art—real art—is there to remind you of the true value of things that seem banal. That’s it.
The Dog and the Robot go to the beach, they feel good and have fun there, but then there’s trouble: the Robot’s battery runs out. And the Dog cannot move it, and it turns out that the beach is open for the last day, and then autumn, winter, spring, and it will open again only in the summer. The dog, hanging his head, goes home, the Robot remains on the sand.
The whole movie is about how the Dog is trying to get the Robot back. And about how the Dog is trying to restore happiness. Sometimes these two tasks coincide, and sometimes not, but they constantly drive the Dog into various difficult situations, sometimes funny, sometimes not particularly funny. The robot just sleeps on the beach, rusts, loses parts and dreams. Not “maybe”, he definitely sees. They show them to us. Actually, “Robot Dreams” is more like “Robot’s Dreams” than “Robot’s Dreams,” but you can’t argue with the distributors. The robot dreams of returning happiness. I dream about a meeting. And I also dream about betrayal. And – don’t take this as a spoiler – all these dreams will come true, because the story they tell us is quite sophisticated despite the apparent simplicity of the plot.
True skill, by the way, is in attention to detail. And there is something to appreciate here. What do you think a sad Dog reads before going to bed, trying to console himself? The dog is reading “Pet Sematary” by Stephen King! True, in the Russian translation, “The Cemetery” for some reason turned into “Animal Life,” but it’s not a problem to see the cover. The finest (and generally not typical for animation) work has been done on the characters of episodic characters. While, for example, the Dog is assembling his Robot, a flock of pigeons is watching him from the windowsill. I won’t retell the scene – it’s definitely better to see it once. But I guarantee a few seconds of unadulterated fun. Or here’s a funny couple: Crocodile, who buys scrap metal from the homeless, and his little son, a wrestling fan. Well, you know, this strange entertainment is thriving in the rotting West – muscular men, dressed approximately the same as the guests of Ivleeva’s famous party, straining their faces, depicting ruthless fights? Roland Barthes wrote a spectacular essay about this during his time. The Crocodile and the Little Crocodile appear in the film for a few minutes, but it seems that we are told everything that can be told about them, or rather, they are not told, but shown.
Oh, by the way, the characters in “Robot Dreams” don’t speak at all—they only hum or whistle something inaudible. Animals, what a demand from them.
And New York is depicted with some special love in the film. Streets, and Central Park, and skyscrapers, and the subway. Shops, establishments, street crowds, rappers and tramps. Berger studied and worked there – and now he is paying back his debts to the great city. His New York is recognizable and familiar, even to those who have never been to New York. Well, for the Russian viewer this is now another dream. Once again – a dream space. Something like dreams for the Robot rusting on the beach.
What else can I tell you? Loneliness will still lose, but the heroes will find happiness. But everything will end not at all the way you and I think, not the way we expect. Maybe a little sadder than we expect, but everything is for the better. The dog will be happy again. And the Robot will be happy. And not only them. Perhaps even the viewer will be happy after watching it. It’s okay, it won’t last long.
Yes, it’s probably worth mentioning that the film was first shown in May last year at the 76th Cannes Film Festival and that since then it has managed to collect a fair collection of prizes at various other festivals. And now I’ve reached Russia. But not everyone is so lucky these days.
In theaters from January 25
Subscribe to Weekend channel in Telegram
[ad_2]
Source link
