Film Study: My Life As A Zucchini

     My Life As A Zucchini or Ma Vie de Courgette (2016) is a stop-motion film about a young boy who loses his mother and must live in an orphanage home with other children who he learns to befriend. It is a Swiss-French production directed by Claude Barras, and based off the 2002 novel Autobiographie d'une Courgette by Gilles Paris. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2016 (89th) Academy Awards, but lost to Disney's Zootopia (2016). It has a rating of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Zootopia has a marginally lower 98%. I chose to watch this film after The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) and Song of the Sea (2014) because it was chronologically released later and because it was the film I was the least enthusiastic about watching. 

     The most striking aspect of this film besides its story (which I will cover next) are the visuals. At first I was unsure about whether or not it would add or subtract from the film as a whole, as it isn’t nearly as “pretty” as the other two movies I reviewed. However, as the narrative progressed I got used to the unusual style, and I think it complements the story well. The use of stop-motion (also executed very smoothly) is fitting as well, as it gives the visuals a more “real” tone than 2D or CGI animation probably would have, which also suits the themes of the film. 



     The overall narrative of this film was surprisingly depressing to me, especially going in knowing close to nothing about the plot. The characters are charming and the setup is similar to that of a Disney film (loss of a parent, moving to a new location, etc) but the themes of abandonment and abuse continue throughout, and I ended up just feeling bad for the kids the whole time. I understand the intention behind the film, which I presume was to show the harsh realities that some kids go through in real life, but for me it just felt sad (I suppose the writers could have just been following the book, but either way it could have used more uplifting moments). While the story does eventually have a "happy" ending, it may have worked better and been more impactful as a short film rather than a full animated feature, as many scenes seem to go on for a bit too long (one example being where the students went on a field trip to a ski hill and nothing was really gathered story-wise except a few dialogues that established more of what we already knew) which creates an uncomfortable/confusing atmosphere on top of an already grim story.  



     I will say it is easier to understand why My Life As A Zucchini did not win the award for Best Animated Feature as opposed to Kaguya or Song of the Sea, as it is definitively even more "niche" and much darker than the usual winners. Even so, it would seem to me that the movie with the higher critical rating should win (rating isn't everything, but I consider it a big part of how I watch and think about movies), even if by a marginal amount. However, it is obvious that the Oscars don't operate that way, and with how little is known about who is involved and how winners are actually chosen at the Academy, it is possible that these smaller films will never get the "Academic" recognition they deserve.