My Life as a Zucchini (2016) : A heartening tale told in gorgeous stop-motion animation

My Life as a Zucchini (2016) tells a touching tale of childhood, childhood relationships, their aspirations and dreams and their struggles. It is a French-Swiss movie with stop-motion animation based on Gilles Paris’s book Autobiographie d’une courgette directed by Claude Barras. The film only clocks in about more than an hour but the affectionate story is as impactful as any other major motion picture.

The story revolves around a boy named Icare but wants to be called Zucchini as his mother called him in that way. Her mother is an alcoholic and due to some mishap, she passes away leaving Zucchini to be placed in an orphanage. The previous scene he meets a cop named Raymond who help in his placement at the orphanage and even becomes attached to Zucchini. At the orphanage he meets new kids and finds meaningful relationships.

Zucchini has a memorable Kite on which he drew his father’s picture to keep as memorabilia. This kite gets stolen by one of the kids named Simon, Simon initially is rude to Zucchini but then later they get bonded as real good friends.

Camille joins the group later, she reads Kafka, despises her aunt and forms a meaningful bond with the gang. Zucchini forms a liking towards Camille and even tells how her eyes “shines” it is a great metaphor that could encapsulate this film. The design of the eyes to its smidge red noses, their large heads, and interpreting their miniscule expressions on their faces is rendered beautifully. The stop-motion is gorgeous to watch. It didn’t feel stiff, and everything felt with fluidity.

We get a scene where we are told on how each of the kids got situated at the orphanage. Ahmed is their because his father is in prison, Camille because both their parents are dead, Beatrice because her mother had to get deported. Each one has a scaring past which is tragic and brings out a sympathetic feeling towards these characters. Yet the movie tells a tender and empathetic tale which address this situation in a compassionate form of art.

There are beautiful moments throughout the film like how they all dance under a disco ball played with Swiss music, it brings an exuberance and fondness to the scene. A scene of understanding in the writing and screenplay is showcased when Ahmed is disregarded by another parent when they go on a fieldtrip. Here Ahmed interacts with another girl child who is wearing cool skating glasses. The parent gets annoyed and tells Ahmed to get lost but as she is leaving the kid throws her sunglasses to Ahmed for him to keep. Here it can be seen that all kids regardless of their position they see themselves as one. It is touching and the maturity of the side characters are also well incorporated and feels organic altogether.

It is a lovely movie with empathetic characters, gorgeous stop-motion and animation that is sometimes lyrical with its humanistic and melancholic music. It is film that can leave you bombarded with emotions in just an hour.