Review on Sylvain Chomet

Review on Sylvain Chomet

  

Sylvain Chomet

Sylvain Chomets, a French animator and director who produced the film; The Illusionist. Chomets idea for this film came from a script that was written by Jacques Tati between 1956 to 1959. After Chomet read the script, he was pleased with it and said. 'It was quite beautiful and rather touching. The surroundings could't have been more appropriate either, as much of the story takes place on railways. And if The Triplets of Belleville told a complicated story in a simple way, THE ILLUSIONIST was the complete opposite. Its narrative was so deceptively simple it was highly complex. Yet I could picture every single scene as I read the script, it visually spoke to me. It was something you'd never see normally done in animation. Nor did it follow the basic rules of animation as it really was squarely aimed at adults. How to make a grown-up cartoon equally appealing to kids? Those were exciting challenges.' (Chomet, 2003) The film was challenging to create, with its complex story that is aimed at adults, but its animation that would also appeal to children. Eric Kohn discusses the film's lack of younger viewers on indiewire.com. 'Chomet’s creation of a posthumous performance means, if nothing else, that younger viewers unfamiliar with the French icon’s filmography may want to check it out for more of the same lovable klutz. But while “The Illusionist” hardly disservices Tati’s talents, it doesn’t fully inhabit them, either.' (Kohn, 2010) Although Kohn argues about children finding the film hard to understand, Chomet disagrees completely and proves that children do like his films. 'I’ve never aimed my films at children as the main audience. I think you restrict yourself when you do that. But on the other hand, I was very surprised that a lot of kids actually watched Belleville Rendezvous, and they all loved it. My own daughter, for example, was never forced to watch the film. She actually has a lot of Pixar movies at home. But one day she saw the DVD and asked if she could watch it and she loved it too. For kids, I think, it’s all real… A lot of people are still fascinated when they see animation. It’s magic.' (Chomet, 2010)        

 The Illusionist

List of Illustrations

 

Figure 1. Smith, Helena (2010) Sylvain Chomet. [Photograph] At: http://www.firedbydesign.com/magical-opening-for-edinburgh-film-festival/ (Accessed on: 02.04.11)

 

Figure 2. Chomet, Sylvain (2010) The Illusionist. [Screen cap] At: http://sbccfilmreviews.org/?p=11591 (Accessed on: 02.04.11)

 

Bibliography

 

Chomet, Sylvain (2003) Illusionist: Interview with director Sylvain Chomet. http://www.emanuellevy.com/interview/illusionist-interview-with-director-sylvain-chomet-5/ (Accessed on: 02.04.11)

 

Chomet, Sylvain (2010) The Illusionist. http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2010/08/01/the-illusionist-interview-with-sylvain-chomet/ (Accessed on: 02.04.11)

 

Kohn, Eric (2010) REVIEW Not Quite There: Sylvain Chomet’s “The Illusionist”. http://www.indiewire.com/article/review_not_quite_there_sylvain_chomets_the_illusionist/ (Accessed on: 02.04.11)