Nathan Mattise

Nathan Mattise

Nathan Mattise

Nathan Mattise

Nathan Mattise (on his 2014 Moto G)

AUSTIN, Texas—Not only do genres run the gamut at Fantastic Fest, the ways they are presented do, too. It's common to see mashups (like Anne Hathaway + kaiju = Colossal) or films with the same basic premise ("documentary about movie posters and artists" executed in totally different ways.

So it should come as no surprise that Fantastic Fest's animated films also embrace this ethos—these aren't your typical Disney-style, kid-friendly cartoons. Three in particular stood out among what we saw: The Red Turtle, Nova Seed, and My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea. And the only thing these films seem to have in common is their choice to eschew live-action.



A tortoise’s pace and grace

On its surface, The Red Turtle is like an animated 127 hours—one man, stranded, continuing to push against nature in the name of survival. But since Turtle is a co-production from the legendary Japanese animators at Studio Ghibli (aka the studio of Hayao Miyazaki), nothing is as straightforward as it appears. Ars at Fantastic Fest The Vast of Night is an alien encounter film like no other

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There's not as much magic-realism in The Red Turtle as there is in something like Howl's Moving Castle, but these sequences will bring a smile to Miyazaki fans. When the man chases down disappearing string ensembles or soars along a never-ending bridge over water, it provides both character and audience with a delightful escape from the seemingly inescapable island. This film doesn't offer a lot of traditional narrative—the unnamed man tries and tries again to construct a raft to return to civilization, but nature keeps presenting obstacles—and instead it opts for allegory. Nature is all-powerful; absent everything else, there is still joy in family; never giving up will lead to something.

For discerning viewers, I imagine there's plenty more to uncover. For the rest of us, there's still a lot of pleasure in this artistic 81 minutes. The Red Turtle's animation is as charming as you'd expect from Miyazaki's studio. In particular, any scene where the stranded man is framed as a tiny spec against the landscape is magnificent. And the group of tiny crabs that befriends him proves to be charismatic and funny solely through action and appearance.

Speaking of speaking, the script lacks any discernible dialogue, making sound design vital. Like with its visuals, The Red Turtle is up to the task. As disparate birds chirp, the man runs through the woods as we hear his footsteps, his hurried breath, the rustling of the leaves. The isolation would be vivid even if you never opened your eyes (the movie makes an unexpected rainfall startling and nearly monster-like instead of being the stereotypically soothing white noise.)

Studio Ghibli diehards will want to put The Red Turtle on their radars ASAP, though The Red Turtle may be more hit-or-miss for others due to its pacing and ambiguity. This is a slow-burn but a rewarding one, a film that ekes out emotion through brilliant simplicity.

As noted by Austin360, Sony Pictures Classics will release The Red Turtle in New York and Los Angeles for an Oscar-qualifying run on Nov. 18. The movie will expand its release in January 2017.

Listing image by Fantastic Fest