My Life as a Courgette (2016)

OK, I know what you're thinking, My Life as a Courgette sounds possibly even more stupid than a title called The Emoji Movie (if that's possible.) However, this is a very moving and wonderfully made little foreign claymation that will stay long in my memory,

This film is only an hour long, which I think was the right decision. If they'd have boosted it up to the archetypal 90-100 minute runtime, it would have felt long winded. The film moves at a quick but steady pace, skipping over the unimportant stuff and concentrating on the backgrounds and the harsh realism of these characters. The subject matter was quite depressing for a family movie, but the film knows this, and fills it with some heart and funny moments for the little kids to get a kick out of, leaving the adults and mature among us to appreciate the layered characterisation.

You really get to feel for these characters, as one by one, we get to learn little nuggets of their troubled, and in some cases, traumatic experiences. The opening sequence with Courgette and his alcoholic mother was actually quite frightening, as we see a comical sequence where Courgette picks up his mum's multiple empty beer cans to make a tower, and it gets tense fast, as they drop from the attic down to the staircase, where his mother turns to Beldam from Coraline and yells at him. We also see the abusive aunt of Courgette's friend and love interest, Camille, and the struggle Camille has to go through to get away from her, which makes the audience root for her.

Also, the Claymation here was really quite terrific. Yes, you could argue it could have worked as a live action, but the Claymation gave it that innocent feeling that I think this film personifies well.

With its depressing and frightening subject matter, quirky Claymation, and funny jokes, My Life as a Courgette has something for everyone to sink their teeth into. The only flaw I would have is that the ending felt a bit too happy-go-lucky, but that could be considered nitpicking.

I would highly recommend this to any fans of stop-motion and people who want to learn about life on care.

And I will give My Life as a Courgette an A.