JEREMY CLAPIN

Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.5. 

Original title: J’ai perdu mon corps

France, 2019.  Xilam, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, SofiTVciné 6, Indéfilms 7, La Région Île-de-France, Région Réunion, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Centre National du Cinema et de L’Image Animee, Agence Nationale de Gestion des Œuvres Audiovisuelle.  Adaptation, dialogue and screenplay by Guillaume Laurant and Jérémy Clapin, based on the novel by Guillaume Laurant.  Produced by Marc Du Pontavice.  Music by Dan Levy.  Production Design by Jocelyn Charles, Jérôme Florencie, Magellan Jeoffrey, Patrice Suau, Le Provost Ulric.  Film Editing by Benjamin Massoubre.  

Touching animated film based on the novel by Guillaume Laurant. Naoufel is a young man who is haunted by the trauma of his childhood in Morocco, orphaned in an accident and sent to live with his uncle and cousin in a cramped Parisian apartment. As an adult he is working, unsuccessfully, as a pizza delivery boy; one night he is late to bring a customer her order and she tells him through the intercom of her apartment building that she’s furious with him for his bad service. He falls in love with her voice and looks for its owner, finding her grandfather’s woodworking shop where he get a job as an apprentice in order to be near Gabrielle, as it turns out she is called. At the same time, across town in a laboratory a severed hand frees itself from its surroundings and makes its way, with the dexterity of Thing from The Addams Family, across town surviving sewers and dirty streets, interested rodents and near-miss accidents in search of its destination. Where these two stories connect is a simple yet effective tale of love and loss, of hands and voices and fractured bodies trying to put themselves together in a world that is always falling apart. Beautifully animated and sensitively told.

Academy Award Nomination:  Best Animated Feature

Critics Choice Award Nomination: Best Animated Feature

European Film Award Nomination:  Best European Animated Feature