20/18
In war-torn times, a poor woodcutter and his wife live in a vast forest. One day, the woman finds and saves a girl, bringing an irreversible change to the lives of the couple and those who cross the child. This is the first animated film by Michael Hasanavicius. This is the best 2024 release I have seen so far this year and we are in mid-December 2024. It tells a story that takes place in Poland during World War II, like a folk tale. Most of the plot takes place in a forest, typical for the aforementioned folk tales, and revolves around a pair of woodcutters who adopt a Jewish girl who is thrown off a deportation train through their forest. She was thrown away by her father to save her from certain death in Auschwitz. I won’t talk too much about the details of the plot, you can see them for yourself, I would like to add that the film reaches a deep philosophical conclusion. On the technical side, everything is done perfectly. The film’s visuals are remarkably well-done. The style of the drawing is just right, not overly detailed or harsh, showing scenes in mostly poor lighting, which emphasizes the horrors of the most infamous war and mass murder in human history. Then there’s the sublime soundtrack: the musical tone, the sound effects, the narration and the voice acting (I saw the original version in French), all of which are perfectly suited to presenting this gem of a film. Ultimately, it is one of the best films to consider when considering the subject of racism and the Shoah in particular, both in terms of its artistic approach and the story it seeks to tell.