Tales of the Night

I seriously have no idea why this was "made" 3-D. There was not real depth behind it (and I'm not even talking that much about character depth, though it is missing a bit too). While your imagination may be having a real hoot with this, your senses may tell you otherwise.

The story as it is, isn't that inventive either. It is nice and you can follow it pretty easy, but there is nothing special about the stories (3-D and animation aside that is, though as said, especially the former isn't really working on any level, no pun intended). I wonder what kids will think of this. Because they might be the main target audience for this. But I couldn't tell if this works for them ...

I picked this out for myself to watch, thinking it would be too "artsy" for my four year old, but she was immediately captivated and plunked down on my lap to watch the whole thing. I was quite surprised at this since she is usually a fan of the Disney princess-genre, ha ha. It is a visually striking art film, and some of the stories have a couple of scary moments or themes for a little one, but we appreciated the simple stories that were told in a unique style of animation. The shadow-box-puppet style with only eyes highlighted on the characters actually fit the fairy-tale type tales very suitably, with a moral to the story, or a twist at the end, so don't expect Shakespeare level - it really is intended for children. We will likely watch this again and again.

Nice framing story of an old man and two younger aspiring directors who get together in an abandoned Parisian cinema to brainstorm and create. Interestingly, the creative process is not entirely clear: Are the two children acting? Providing a model for the old man to animate? Regardless, the six stories all transpire in "exotic" locales (including medieval Europe), which appealed a lot to my kids. We've now watched it twice, and they loved it both times. The silhouette animation, with its rich colors, is beautiful and surprisingly complex. Sienna's favorite story was the Aztec-inspired City of Gold and its snake protector/attacker, Sebastian's was the Tibetan story of the talking horse and the boy who never lied, and mine was the wizard and the architect's son.

From the director of Kirikou and the Sorceress, this animated film, done in a CGI shadow puppet style, is about a brother and sister who, along with an elderly man they know, concoct movie scenarios. Six different fairy tale scenarios are illustrated. I've never actually seen any of the Kirikou films, but I've heard good things. This film doesn't inspire me to check anything else by Ocelot out. The visuals are quite gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but the screen writing is flat, boring and downright regressive. Five of the six stories have the boy as the hero saving the girl, who is a damsel in distress. The sixth one isn't particularly progressive, either. The version I watched on Netflix was dubbed in English by a group of British actors who are particularly boring. Skip it.

If someone were to ask if I recommended Tales of the Night, the answer would be yes. It is a very simple film and doesn't break new ground from a thematic perspective. That doesn't matter because so much of the movie is beautifully done. The animation makes for a visual treat, not just the shadowy silhouettes for the character designs and the drama being conveyed but also the backgrounds with the gloriously vivid colours. The music doesn't overbear what's happening in the six featured stories, as well as being sensitive, lushly orchestrated and lyrical it allows the stories to speak for themselves. And speak for themselves they do, the moralising, positive messaging and lessons do not preach and are ones that anybody young and old can relate fully to as well as being important values. There is an Aesop's Fables feel at times especially in The Werewolf, not that that it is an issue, far from it. And the stories do have great atmosphere while never trying to be too complicated, The Boy Who Never Lied and Boy Tam-Tam are somewhat graphic yet magical. Personal favourite has to go to The Doe Girl and the Architect's Son, which contains the best animation of the film and is quite poignant. The characters don't break new ground either but they have a real charm to them and carry their stories very well. In fact, if there was anything that wasn't quite right it was the old-theatre-and-re-enacting links, not a bad idea but at times clumsily handled. Other than that, Tales of the Night is a very good film indeed. 9/10 Bethany Cox