Let's not beat around the bush: this is an outstanding film, and I can't believe I almost overlooked it.
The story is unsophisticated, rather simple as if it were an animated feature geared toward children, and also fairly straightforward in terms of beats and plot development. In the same fashion, 'Le tableau' is very plainspoken in terms of its themes, emphatically delving into notions of extreme class inequality and unearned privilege, power and corruption, religion, existential questions of one's place in the universe, the absurdity of war, and much more. Yet filmmaker Jean-François Laguionie is no unknowing novice, nor co-writer Anik Leray, and the writing is very pointedly all that it needs to be to keep viewers invested right from the start. The scene writing is wonderfully smart and varied in serving up flavors of adventure, fantasy, romance, drama, and even horror; characters are unexpectedly complete and multi-faceted. The movie also plays with terrific ideas all around, blurring conceptions of reality by way of both character writing and world-building. And that's just the screenplay!
The animation quite echoes the title's approach to writing, seeming curious and maybe a tad unremarkable from the outside looking in and even at the outset. Once the tale begins in earnest, however, the beauty of the illustrators' work reveals itself very naturally. The fundamental designs of characters and environments are fantastic, and very easy on the eyes. Bursts of every possible color greet our vision, but always with a marginal pastel haze that makes it all even more pleasant. There are small variations in painting and drawing styles seen at different times, and the most active visual elements are just as fetching as the backgrounds. Instances of nudity and even violence have never been as unique as they are here. The picture even splits the difference at some points between 2D and 3D, moments that are some of the most mesmerizing of the whole affair - and that's saying a lot!
Even Pascal Le Pennec's score very much stands out, for wide swaths of his themes come across less as compositions for cinema and more like snippets from full-fledged symphonies of classical music. And as if all this weren't enough, at the same time that 'Le tableau delicately touches upon emotional depths without getting bogged down, the end result is altogether heartwarming and inspiring. At length we find gratifying expression and affirmation of progressive values: irreligious humanism, empowerment and self-realization, diversity and inclusivity, forging one's own identity, erasing prejudices, breaking barriers and building community, and ideations of exploring and pushing past boundaries both arbitrary and esoteric. The end result, I'm all so happy to say, is one of the most imaginative, striking, satisfying, and rewarding animated films that I've seen, and certainly one of the best, even broadening the scope to cinema at large. All this, in a title that I stumbled upon and didn't especially mark as a high priority to watch.
I can't overstate what a joy this is. No matter who you are, as far as I'm concerned 'Le tableau' earns my highest, heartiest recommendation. Bravo!
The story is unsophisticated, rather simple as if it were an animated feature geared toward children, and also fairly straightforward in terms of beats and plot development. In the same fashion, 'Le tableau' is very plainspoken in terms of its themes, emphatically delving into notions of extreme class inequality and unearned privilege, power and corruption, religion, existential questions of one's place in the universe, the absurdity of war, and much more. Yet filmmaker Jean-François Laguionie is no unknowing novice, nor co-writer Anik Leray, and the writing is very pointedly all that it needs to be to keep viewers invested right from the start. The scene writing is wonderfully smart and varied in serving up flavors of adventure, fantasy, romance, drama, and even horror; characters are unexpectedly complete and multi-faceted. The movie also plays with terrific ideas all around, blurring conceptions of reality by way of both character writing and world-building. And that's just the screenplay!
The animation quite echoes the title's approach to writing, seeming curious and maybe a tad unremarkable from the outside looking in and even at the outset. Once the tale begins in earnest, however, the beauty of the illustrators' work reveals itself very naturally. The fundamental designs of characters and environments are fantastic, and very easy on the eyes. Bursts of every possible color greet our vision, but always with a marginal pastel haze that makes it all even more pleasant. There are small variations in painting and drawing styles seen at different times, and the most active visual elements are just as fetching as the backgrounds. Instances of nudity and even violence have never been as unique as they are here. The picture even splits the difference at some points between 2D and 3D, moments that are some of the most mesmerizing of the whole affair - and that's saying a lot!
Even Pascal Le Pennec's score very much stands out, for wide swaths of his themes come across less as compositions for cinema and more like snippets from full-fledged symphonies of classical music. And as if all this weren't enough, at the same time that 'Le tableau delicately touches upon emotional depths without getting bogged down, the end result is altogether heartwarming and inspiring. At length we find gratifying expression and affirmation of progressive values: irreligious humanism, empowerment and self-realization, diversity and inclusivity, forging one's own identity, erasing prejudices, breaking barriers and building community, and ideations of exploring and pushing past boundaries both arbitrary and esoteric. The end result, I'm all so happy to say, is one of the most imaginative, striking, satisfying, and rewarding animated films that I've seen, and certainly one of the best, even broadening the scope to cinema at large. All this, in a title that I stumbled upon and didn't especially mark as a high priority to watch.
I can't overstate what a joy this is. No matter who you are, as far as I'm concerned 'Le tableau' earns my highest, heartiest recommendation. Bravo!