When you are bombarded with advanced animation from all around, sometimes ‘Simplicity’ takes over the wheel. Amidst the new technical style of animation, often something simple startles you and nourishes your visual experience.
Studio Ghibli‘s co-production The Red Turtle has the same effect as it proclaims nothing but Simplicity. The first trailer of the film released displays the traditional style of 2D animation with the minimum use of colours and simple characterisation.
Based on the adversity of nature, the protagonist gets stranded to an unknown island. Man can adapt to any environment when it comes to fighting the battle of survival. So does the protagonist as he finds ways and means to live and survive on the island.
However, to his demise the huge red turtle breaks through the raft and destroys all possibilities of survival. The story takes a significant turn as suddenly a girl emerges from the water out of nowhere. When a man and woman meet, the emotion of love is propelled vividly. The duo go ahead to make a family leading to a small kid on the isolated land.
The island probably becomes the home for the family as their kid grows up playing around and living a cheerful life immersed in the beauty of nature. But hold on, nature has its own beauty and its own atrocities too.
The merry life of the characters takes an unexpected leap as nature doesn’t seem quite happy with them. Will they still fight the battle of survival? Can they or anyone for the matter stand against the power of nature? Moreover, what is the mystery of the red turtle? One can probably speculate that the girl is the red turtle for she emerges from the water just out of the blue and has resemblance of red hair too. (Just a speculation though)
Produced by Why Not Productions and Wild Bunch in association with Studio Ghibli, the film directed by Michaël Dudok de Wit will open the 40th Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June this year.
