Oscar nominated and winner of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard Special Prize, The Red Turtle by Director Michael Dudok de Wit is coming to UK cinemas 26 May.
The animated fantasy film is a co-production between Wild Bunch (The Artist, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Wrestler) and Studio Ghibli (My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) and is the first non-Japanese film Studio Ghibli has ever produced.
The Red Turtle tells the story of a man shipwrecked on a desert island and his encounter with a red sea turtle. Without dialogue, but with gorgeous and spare music by Laurent Perez Del Mar, it’s a largely linear film with a poignant message.
I don’t want to give any spoilers – and I definitely do want to express that I loved this delightful movie– but I should say I had a few ‘huh?’ moments during the press preview screening I attended earlier this week. A pivotal point in the story involves a magical transformation brought about by an act of rage and violence. As much as the gorgeous artwork and feeling of serenity of this film washed over me with calm poignancy, I couldn’t shake my questions of how and why certain things happened the way they did.
Maybe I was thinking about it too much. Maybe I just didn’t get it. I reveled in the warm glow of this film, though – and easily can recommend it to anybody looking to watch a compelling and touching film about our relation with nature and with one another.
Find out more about The Red Turtle at sonyclassics.com/theredturtle.
The screening was my first time to catch a flick at Picturehouse Central. Comfy and spacious reclining seats, killer sound and a large curved screen made it a quality setting for getting lost in a good movie. Picturehouse Central is located at the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Great Windmill Street, W1D 7DH. Find out more about it and all Picturehouse cinemas at picturehouses.com.
