20131107: Animation Review--Tales of the Night

Tales of the Night (Les contes de la nuit)

1. Production Fundamentals; reception
1. French animated feature length film, 2011, NR, 83 minutes, aspect 1.78; fantasy.
2. IMDB: 6.5/10.0 from 655 audience ratings.  Spoken word is English, which was rather unexpected; English subtitles.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 78% on the meter; 60% liked it from 2,114 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.4/5.0 from 19,089 audience ratings.
5. Written and directed by Michel Ocelot.
6. Starring: Julien Beramis as Boy, Marine Griset as Girl, Michel Elias.


2. Setup, Plot
1. The film breaks into six separate adventures.


2. Night of the Werewolf. Being a prince and a werewolf in the 15th century.  Happy ending on this one; murderous deceit receives justice instead of monetary reward.


3. Jon Jon and Beauty Not Knowing.  On a Caribbean island, Jon Jon explores a deep cave which is the country of the dead.  The only other living being is the princess whose name is Beauty Not Knowing.  Jon Jon befriends the 3 monsters he was warned to kill.  The father of the princess sets him three tasks.  The 3 monsters help him through the final tests.  Jon Jon goes back to his girl friend in the land of the living.


4. The City of Gold. The Boy saves The Girl from being a human sacrifice, but at a cost.


5. Tom-Tom Boy.  Set in a village in the African bush.  Everyone in the village tells Tom-Tom Boy to learn something useful, and to get lost in the meantime.  He saves an old man's life out in the wild.  This man is the custodian of the magic tom-tom, 'whose rhythms no one can resist.'  He plays for the custodian, who teaches him to do more with it.


6. The Boy Who Never Lied.  Set in Tibet.  Two kings each wager half their kingdoms on whether or not the Boy can be made to lie.  The princess volunteers to help her father get the Boy to lie.  The Boy's horse speaks; the princess' mare can sing.  The lying princess acts sick, and claims that she must eat the heart of his talking horse.  The horse, Melonge, gives up his life so that his heart can be claimed.  The Boy serves up the heart, but the princess leaves with the heart untouched.  Ah, sadness.  But the Boy and his king are rewarded, and the princess admits the vileness of what she has done.


7. The Young Doe and the Architect's Son.  Zachariac, the sorcerer, has a young ward, Maud, who falls in love with the architect's son, Thibault.  Thibault climbs Zachariac's dread tower to rescue Maud.  He encourages her to agree to marry Zachariac, with the understanding that Thibault will interrupt the process before it is complete.  Thibault and Maud escape via a secret trapdoor in the cathedral.  Zachariac renounces Maud, and changes her into a doe who only runs from Thibault.  Thibault and his father's friend find the palace of a fairy ally of the architect.  Can they complete the resolution?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Fairy tales done very well using an old style and modern techniques.
2. Five stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Art/Animation: 10/10 Though only in one style, wonderful throughout.


2. Sound: 10/10 No problems.  Liked the incidental music.


3. Acting: 10/10 Beautifully voiced.


4. Screenplay: 10/10 Difficult and wonderful.