French Archives | Otaku No Culture

You Better Promise Me, Arco, Take Me Back In Time

A gentle French animated time-travel tale, Arco blends soft sci-fi adventure with heartfelt friendship. Drawing subtle inspiration from Ghibli and Moebius, the film favours wonder, warmth, and quiet environmental themes over spectacle, delivering a thoughtful story about being lost in time and finding connection.

Arco Movie Poster Elevation Pictures

As much as I sometimes use the idiom “tripping the light fantastic,” it applies doubly to a French animated film titled Arco. This is also the name of a young boy (Oscar Tresanini and Juliano Krue Valdi in the English version) who accidentally finds himself in the past after misusing a time-travel device in a post-modern future.

All he wanted was to go play with dinosaurs. Instead, things go sideways, and he lands in an unfamiliar era where he meets Iris (Margot Ringard Oldra; Romy Fay in the English version). She’s about his age, ten, and together they must avoid a group of conspiracy theorists convinced the boy is proof of alien visitation.

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What Does A Robot Dreams of is not Necessarily Life, Love and Happiness

Yoda would certainly mince the words around after watching this surreal look at the relationships of animal-kind and machine in Robot Dreams.

Robot Dreams Movie Poster Spoiler Alert

In Robot Dreams, a dog’s best friend is not a man. Instead, it’s in what can be made out of mechanical parts and the hope that parting is not sweet sorrow. In this anthropomorphic world, this canine (simply known as Dog) has no friends. I had questions regarding why this is so. There’s no backstory. My guess is that this mutt is a loner.

And after building Robot, life doesn’t seem as bleak. They hold hands and do things people dating would do, like go dancing in the park. There are even some questionable occasions which made me think he ordered a mail-order bride. It may be answered in the graphic novel this film is based on, but as I haven’t read it, I’ll have to find out!

From a technical perspective, this animation is really well done and as for what the artists had in mind for some sequences, I assume dog has fetishes that’s thankfully been edited out.

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Ernest and Celestine Returns to the Big Screen with A Trip to Gibberitia!

At long last, the producers behind the first Ernest and Celestine film has made a sequel, and it’s a perfect continuation!

Playing at the Chicago Critics
Film Festival May 7, 12pm (tickets)

While not everyone has read the original books by Belgian children’s author Gabrielle Vincent or saw the first movie over a decade ago, Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia stands very well on its own. It also has an undeniable charm, and a presentation worthy of Hayao Miyazaki‘s watercolour technique back when films were made by hand.

There’s even some humour which is endearingly familiar. It’s as though this new movie is tapping into my love for Sherlock Hound. This Italian-Japanese series also used a similar approach to misfit antics, and as for what the law enforcement represents, they’re just as much like the keystone cops. They enforce a steadfast rule in the town the bear (Lambert Wilson) and mouse (Pauline Brunner) visit. The actors reprise their roles like no time has passed. That is, nothing has really changed in their relationship since the first film from ten years ago.

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Where Worlds Collide and The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou

What’s amazing about The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou is that it is not a full-blown tale of terror. It’s more of a gentle thriller.

The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou TIFF Poster — **Available to preorder on Amazon USA**

Available on VOD
Coming to DVD on April 25, 2023

Just what Elsa (Lou Lampros) transforms into in The Strange Case of Jacky Caillou may have many viewers believing she’s a Loup-Garou, but truth be told, what changes inside can be much worse! This French-made film offers a great mystery.

Ultimately, this tale is focused on Jacky (Thomas Parigi) and the relationship with his grandmother Gisèle (Edwige Blondiau), who is a local healer. She uses folk medicine and her gift of altering one’s electrical meridians through the laying of hands (she calls it magnetic therapy) to cure the sick. She hopes to pass on her talent to him, but not everyone in the village is convinced he has that magic, too. Sadly, when she passes, the villagers will have no one else to turn to.

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The NFB’s Adds 2 New Comic Strip Chronicles and is Presenting at the Montreal Comic Arts Festival!

National Film Board of Canada LOGO

The National Film Board of Canada has humour and serious drama in store with two pieces now in its online Comic Strip Chronicles Collection. This series of shorts looks at the strong connection that exists with comic strips–in its traditional Sunday funnies format–with animation. When considering the latter, it also delves deep into thoughtful experiences too.

More events are planned this weekend. These two particular works will be screened at the Films et Table Ronde Entourant L’univers de la BD event (in French and organised by the NFB) and the Montreal Comic Arts Festival, beginning May 7.

There’s also a terrific retrospective written by Marc St-Pierre on The NFB’s blog to get readers up to speed on what the Animation Studio of the French Program has been up to in the past several years. The article is written in French, and it can be parsed through Google Translate.

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The Prince’s Voyage Set To Land May 18th!

Directed by the venerable French animator Jean-François Laguionie (The Painting, Cannes Palme d’Or winner Rowing Across the Atlantic) and Xavier Picard (King Arthur and the Knight of Justice), this movie is a beautiful and exciting movie adventure that promotes acceptance and diversity.

This spring, Shout! Studios invites you to embark on an extraordinary journey with The Prince’s Voyage when this highly anticipated animated feature debuts on a two-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD) and Digital on May 18, 2021.

Directed by the venerable French animator Jean-François Laguionie (The Painting, Cannes Palme d’Or winner Rowing Across the Atlantic) and Xavier Picard (King Arthur and the Knight of Justice), this movie is a beautiful and exciting movie adventure that promotes acceptance and diversity. Available for the first time on North American home entertainment shelves, The Prince’s Voyage Blu-ray Combo Pack contains insightful bonus content and is a must-have for collectors and animation enthusiasts.

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