Playing Jan 26, 7pm
FIAF Florence Gould Hall, NYC
Anyone who loves anthropomorphic cats will adore what Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds has in store for them. Although the character designs are reminiscent of Hayop Ka! thankfully the narrative here is more family friendly and nurturing.
Here, we’re introduced to a writer (voiced by Géraldine Asselin) who suddenly has to babysit Carmen (Maryne Bertieaux) and her younger sister Juliette (Loïse Charpentier). But in order to prepare for their stay, she decides to let them play by themselves whilst she naps. Pretty soon, they are whisked away into a far off adventure!
I’m led to believe that everything Agnès wrote created a dimension and that’s where these younger girls went! Somehow, they’ve transformed into half cat half humanoid form.
In the Kingdom of the Winds, this wordsmith fashioned a world where her sister is still alive, and the mysterious Sirocco (Pierre Lognay) kind of rules over everything! But he’s no wizard per se. The various denizens know he’s the master of wind, and for a hybrid race of frogs who fear him, all they can do is make offerings. When the cat girls cause some problems, they’re soon split up. One is sent to be an aide to Selma (Aurélie Konaté), and the other forced to marry the prince.
With this plot in hand, what’s presented gets as engaging as Laputa, Castle in the Sky, but in the back of my mind, this world is more akin to Studio Ghibli‘s The Cat Returns meets Fifth Element. The latter comparison is more so due to what Selma represents. She’s the star of a travelling opera house, By the time she gets involved in helping the girls, the backstory that’s revealed shows there’s much more going on than just Agnès working through her loss of her sister through her books.
This story only gets better with repeated viewings, and I’m fairly sure that after this work is done making the rounds at film festivals worldwide, there’ll be a home video release in no time flat!
4 Stars out of 5
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds Movie Trailer
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