Get ready! The story of the dog Marona promises to thrill parents and children next Saturday. Marona’s Extraordinary Journey, a feature film part of the international competition, tells the story of Marona, especially at the end of her dog days, when she reflects on those she loved unconditionally throughout her life. From her puppy days to her last breath, Marona’s life is a lesson in love.
In the words of Peter Debruge, of Variety (read the original news HERE) …
“Everyone had the right to love and a bone.” That’s just one of the many canine insights served up by “Marona’s Fantastic Tale,” a dazzling expressionistic view of the world through the eyes of a stray dog who wants nothing more than those two comforts. Actually, the unassuming narrator (Lizzie Brochere) — who looks like the black-and-white version of painter George Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog” — would also appreciate if her various owners could just settle on what to call her, preferably a name that no one else has. Given the title, that’s perhaps the only detail audiences can anticipate in Romanian animator Anca Damian’s unexpected offering, which provides pleasures for all ages, but especially for dog lovers.
For Damian, the Paris-set “Marona” (which exists in both French- and Romanian-language versions) marks a significant departure both in tone and style from her previous work, most notably “Crulic – The Path to Beyond,” with its dreary palette and relatively depressing story (about a Romanian man who died on hunger strike in a Polish prison). Eye-tickling in its design, occasionally tear-jerking in its execution, “Marona” feels vibrant and upbeat even in moments of melancholy — like diving into an artistic child’s sketchbook and watching the illustrations splash to life all around. If this were a painting, we might classify it as “primitivism,” although the pseudo-naïve approach (a collaboration with Belgian artist Brecht Evens, whom Damian enlisted to work on his first animated project) works perfectly with such a protagonist. Marona views things differently from people, and the movie reflects that.
Saturday, February 1st, 9:15PM, at Teatro Rivoli
Watch the trailer to under what we’re all talking about: