"Suicide Shop" is an animated musical directed by Patrice LeConte for the first time in 2012. After a quick check, his films are very diverse, ranging from exploring madmen and gender issues to quietly deconstructing human wisdom and civilization. Involving sensitive topics and actively discussing human nature, this film is not only subversive, but also family-oriented, French-style opera, dark humor between characters, vivid characters and style of painting, which is really unique.
First of all, the title of the film is very immersive. In the face of the romantic and cold humor of the French, you may be able to guess that this film will not be a downright depressing work. The grotesque interest of the animation is very fascinating. Using French songs with the dark style of Gothic aesthetics, it creates an atmosphere of sadness and despair. The black crows seem to have experienced all the pain in the world, the eyes that can never be opened, and the traces of tiredness in the corners of their eyes, so they only want to end this fate. The rats represent the Greek opera choir, who comment on some actions, or sketch unfortunate moments, showing us that in this sinister city, the life of a rat is more enviable than that of a human being. Thick dark circles under the eyes, scrawny humans, distorted faces and decadent expressions, the black vehicles that follow, the city walls shrouded in darkness are tall and terrifying, so the sun never shines on the streets. Pretty desperate world. In just a few strokes, the background of the film's story is outlined. In the metropolis of the future, dark and crowded high-rise buildings stretch as far as the eye can see. These will let us see the shadow of Burton's "Zombie Dancer" and "The Soul of Christmas Eve", which is probably the director's learning and tribute to them. The store is the only oasis with striking colours. Dangerous city, only the shops are attractive enough, and the candy-like colors are eye-catching. These upside-down realities are often impressive and bizarre when presented to the audience.
The genre used in the film is also ingenious, the animation is first and foremost unnatural, it is in a world that is out of balance, a world of reconstruction, full of imaginative, crazy, bizarre, weird things. The father strangled his son's throat and stomped on his body, and later taught him to smoke so that he could get rid of lung cancer as soon as possible. It would be absolutely unbearable for an actor to act in a live-action film. But in this film, it becomes acceptable because this is not real life, we are in another world. In addition, as a dark humorous cartoon, the director skillfully presents a very dark but pleasant movie in the form of a musical. Everything is wonderfully sinister, as a desperate man sings the song of separation before swallowing a bottle of poison. The combination of music and animation gives the film a lot of freedom, and this kind of abnormal world view is easier for the audience to accept. The music "dilutes" the narrative here, expressing the inner feelings of the characters through singing and dancing, which is beneficial to ease the atmosphere to a certain extent. The orchestra and electronic synthesis echo each other, reflecting the fusion of classical and modern, so it is very appealing and understandable to reflect the anti-world of suicide. In addition, romance is greater than realism, which is another artistic feature of its musicals, which enables the creation of the overall atmosphere and the ultimate expression of the French innate romantic factor. When the couple is desperate, the Dali-style surrealist painting style and the music and dance soundtrack describe the psychological picture more brightly. On the basis of respecting the original work, the director added more emotional and aesthetic elements. Although the character building and the environment portrayed were depressing and dark, they were very natural, so that people did not feel any resistance. Therefore, musicals are always filled with a lot of emotionally disturbing music, which can often awaken many feelings and emotions that people have forgotten in their daily lives. Music can directly abandon the form of language, allowing people to truly feel the emotion behind the music.
The characters in the film also have their own characteristics. Dad Mishima is a cold and funny person who does his business conscientiously. His wife is always well-groomed, with a perfect honeycomb hairstyle and bright lipstick. They are enthusiastic shopkeepers, but the long-term help others commit suicide has led to increasing psychological burden. As for their children, Vincent was a little silly and a little tired. Marilyn is a goth teen who thinks she's ugly and overweight, never knew she could be attractive, but that all changes. But the hardest thing is Allen, because everything that is happy and positive about him is against that whole world, but he has to be an alternative and a rebel. His natural optimism shaped his image: a small body with a big smiling face. The name of this family is also very interesting. What exactly is the director reflecting on real life, we don't know, all I know is that there must be affection in singing and dancing, whether it is pessimistic or optimistic, whether it is turbulent or turbulent peaceful.
In the film, the little boy pretending to commit suicide and playing bungee jumping is the most brilliant part of the film, and it is also a major turning point in the film. Those depressing and decadent characters can hardly hide their joy in front of the little boy's "prank". Be moved by this moment. In this way, the artistic narrative method of animation is also a highlight. The director can use the colors, character modeling, and arrangement of the surrounding environment to fully satisfy his special narrative method and narrative method. This is the advantage of animated films. The artistic effect is also great. Although the character style is a bit exaggerated, the colors used in the film are really beautiful. The dazzling array of goods and beautiful tones in the store are pleasing to the eye, forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding dark colors. Bright The combination of color and weird painting style has always caught people's attention. In addition to the pictures, the eye-catching music is accompanied by the imaginative pictures. The ink and light and shadow in the middle are particularly prominent. The songs are not good, but the tunes are special. The flavors, and sometimes the dramatic contrast to the plot, is fun. This traditional 2D hand-painted picture achieves a three-dimensional effect, and all the details of the whole play are also very detailed. With the lighting effects, the whole play can be said to be both gloomy and hopeful, mixed with a strong French tenderness.
The film presents the characters' inner monologues in the form of songs, with "suicide" as the keynote, satirizing people who escape reality and life. Hand-drawn animation not only creates a Gothic aesthetic style with dark and depressing pictures, but also its innovative spirit of artistic animation is worthy of our careful appreciation.
View more about The Suicide Shop reviews
