MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI – Review

A shot in the animated children’s feature MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI. Courtesy of GKIDS.

One of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Animated Feature, the French/Swiss MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI (Ma Vie en Courgette) is a complete charmer. The stop-motion children’s film focuses on a lonely boy nicknamed Zucchini (Courgette, in French) who is sent to a group home after his mother’s accidental death. Life had not been good with his hard-drinking mom after his father left them, but the boy clings to his only mementos of them and his childhood: a kite that depicts his little-remembered dad as a superhero, one of his mom’s empty beer cans, and the strange nickname his mother gave him.

Zucchini expects the worst when the kindly policeman who has befriended him, Raymond, takes him to the rural orphanage. At first it seems as if he will get just that – not from the staff, who are consistently warm and understanding, but from one of the kids, Simon. A bully who bosses around the other kids, Simon taunts the new boy, calling him Potato. Simon knows everyone’s sad story and tries to pry Zucchini’s story from him as well. The ethnically-diverse kids are not all orphans but all have experienced some kind of trauma or loss.

This premise sounds grim but the film quickly turns into a warm and funny tale of bonding between unlikely friends, as kids have a way of adapting and finding fun in unexpected places. The film is based on a book, “Autobiography of a Courgette” by Gille Paris. The stop-motion animation is beautifully done, using wide-eyed puppets whose appearance is both comically surreal and remarkably expressive. The visuals are supplemented by nice voice acting by the French cast, young and adult alike. For the English language version, director Claude Barras leads a voice cast that includes Will Forte, Nick Offerman, Ellen Page, and Amy Sedaris. Lively music, by Sophie Hunger, sets the right tone, and the film’s hopeful and uplifting message of tolerance and kindness charm, while the kid-style humor delights.

The arrival of another orphaned girl adds an extra spark to the children’s growing bond, and changes Zucchini’s life. One of the things that makes this film so delightful is its naturalness and complete lack of saccharine elements, despite the story’s potential for that. While MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI has a message, it never feels like it is preaching, making points indirectly through the children’s interactions and characters.

The film ends with lively hand-drawn credits, some more of the winning score, and a bonus scene of the lead child actor’s audition – but still appearing in his animated incarnation. It is a wonderful comic touch to end a heart-warming, completely enjoyable film.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars