Hi!
Welcome to a very last movie review of this year! I will end 2015 with a new adaptation of a classical story – The Little Prince.
IMDb summary: A little girl lives in a very grown-up world with her mother, who tries to make sure she is prepared for it. Her neighbor The Aviator, introduces the girl to an extraordinary world where anything is possible, the world of The Little Prince.
To begin with, I saw a trailer for this at the beginning of the year and my interested was peaked. However, I did not know if I will be able to see this film, as it looked quite small and my local movie theater does not always show films like this one. Nevertheless, my hometown’s cinema did not let me down and actually started screening this movie at the end of November and I managed to see one of its last screenings on December 31st. So, let’s talk about the technical side of the film as well as its themes. Once again, animated films are dubbed in my native country, so I can’t really comment on the voice work of the actors.
- The Little Prince is a very well know story, written by a French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry at the beginning of the last century. When I first read this book in elementary school, I actually disliked it, because I could not understand it. When I re-read it later in life, I saw this story with completely different eyes. This truly timeless narrative was transferred to the silver screen by screenwriters Irena Brignull and Bob Persichetti. They managed to adapt this dense and complex story magnificently. All of the metaphors and symbolism worked well on screen as well as on paper and the emotional level of the film almost reached the level of Pixar movies.
- The film was directed by Mark Osborne (he co-directed the first Kung Fu Panda). He blended the modern computer animation with classical handcrafted (almost papier-mâché like) stop motion (my favorite kind of animation) beautifully. The bleak and cold color palette of the real world and the graphic overhead shots were also really nice. In addition, the familiar imagery, which was lifted straight from the book, was also appreciated. The musical score by Richard Harvey and Hans Zimmer was also pleasant to the ear and fit the story wonderfully.
- The film’s story dealt with the relationship between parents and their children. It explored the generation gap and miscommunication between parents and their offspring as well as dealt with the idea of parents living vicariously through their children.
- The real world of the film introduced the themes of lost identity, the uncertainty of life, norms of society, drawbacks of life planning and shortcomings of rational thinking. Life is so much more interesting when its unpredictable: it’s easy to follow a plan, but much more rewarding to live in the unknown. For a long time, I have followed a supposed life plan and I am still following it to some extent – for one, I went to university straight after high school as society expects. However, the degree I have chosen is not as easily predictable – I study anthropology, which is a very liberal and broad subject, as well as English – there is a lot of room for interpretation and creativity when studying literature.
- The imaginary world showed the importance and power of imagination. It also portrayed friendship as a crucial part of life. In addition, the film introduced an idea of growing up but never forgetting what it’s like to be a child. I hope I’ll never forget to dream and think outside of the box as well as look at the world with an open heart. The movie also commented on human vices like greed, materialism, and vanity.
In short, The Little Prince was a perfect motion picture to end this year on. I hope that in time, this motion picture will become an instant classic because it certainly deserves it.
Rate: 5/5
Trailer: The Little Prince trailer
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