12/48
In wartime, a poor lumberjack and his wife live in a large forest. One day, the woman finds and rescues a little girl, bringing irrevocable change to the lives of the couple and those whose paths the child will cross. This is Michel Hazanavicius's first animated film.. World War II is one of the darkest periods of humanity. A time when humanity was just beginning to embrace the gray war, when the world witnessed the scale of human cruelty. A time when rebirth, redemption and peace were promised. The hand of faith had just struck Europe in its usual eerie way, with the enormous debt of the great war and the lost generation looming over it. The world had stopped, not because of Schick, or at least not only because of that, but because of what lay beneath. The greatest world tragedy to date faced an even bleaker future. Germany was in ruins, having just lost the war, the faith of its people and the power of its empire. It swore revenge for the humiliation. A few years after that extremely dark period, there was a humble and old couple of German woodcutters. The man goes to cut down large trees, and the woman collects small branches. Both spend a hard day’s work to reach a small house in the middle of the forest where they are waiting for an emergency soup and a tired old dog. Never having had a child, the woman begs everything in existence, leaving God or never bringing him up to speed. She prays to the sky, the tree, and even the train gods for a train. And one day the train gods answered her prayers. In that empty corner of the forest, the train made its way through the white winter snow, slowly but surely reaching its desired destination. And one day a baby is thrown out of the train only to be picked up by the old woodcutter. For some, a heartless thing, but not for her. What follows is a beautifully crafted tragedy, a story of humanity: the loving force within it that builds and sacrifices itself, and its inherently evil side that takes revenge and retaliates. Michel Hazanavicius’ animated film borrows a very comedic style that puts you in the heart of an enchanted forest, along with its distinctive cast of characters and bleak World War II setting, making it one of the most beautiful of the year. jerks. A beautiful farewell to Jean-Louis Trintignant’s illustrious career.