Suicide Shop is a French cartoon based on the best-selling French novel, directed by Patrice Lecomte. It tells the story of a ten-generation mom-and-pop shop that sells all kinds of tools that can help people commit suicide for a living, until one day their youngest son Alan was born and became their biggest threat. The film is about 70 minutes long and has never won an international award. However, because of its peculiar imagination and it has to be praised, this article will mainly analyze it from the genre film.
The film has a large number of song and dance plots, so it should be designated as a "musical comedy". From the point of view of genre movies, there is a complete story line and is full of unique black humor and a happy ending. There is nothing wrong with a comedy film, and it is not necessary to say that it is mixed with singing and dancing. The characteristics are still relatively obvious.
1. The formulaic plot
As a musical comedy, it has a complete storyline and uses song and dance to express the inner thoughts of the characters. For example, at the beginning of the film, the Mishima family's lyrics try to exaggerate how professional and good their store is, and describe suicide as an art. This kind of extreme freak idea gives people a sense of black humor. This is their expression as businessmen. The climax of the whole play is the part of her sister Marilyn dancing naked. She sings her happiness to the music and dances to her heart's content, expressing her idea that she has changed her death and that she wants to live beautifully. Receive enlightenment and education in lighthearted and humorous laughter, use laughter to stimulate people's love-hate emotions, and finally have a happy ending, but express the philosophy between life and death.
2. Stereotyped characters
The comedic young son Alan is the core character of the whole film. His innocent and cute characters bring joy to people: the old grandmother went into the store to choose something and saw him laughing. The more you laugh, the more extreme the contrast makes you laugh. And he found a way to make his sister Marilyn change her mind first, let her dance naked in the room to regain her confidence and find her lover, and then change everyone and finally change Mishima, his father, and the family gave up their old capital and started a business The crepe shop has a happy ending for the family. These are the roles of the protagonists in comedy films. They use laughter to resolve all grudges and hatreds. Beauty can always overcome darkness and return to a peaceful world.
3. Graphical visual images
The film has the characteristics of Gothic art style, creating a spooky and strange city. To express depression and death, there are a lot of dark and cold colors and the morbid behavior and expressions of the characters. For example, the thin body and drooping face of many people seeking death are lifeless, and even a crow did not have the courage to live, and fell straight down and was crushed by a car. Whether it is shooting suicide or being hit by a car, you will be fined, which is enough to show the indifference of this world. No wonder everyone is coming to "seek death". In the end, the crepe shop was opened, and the Mishima family performed their duties and were extremely happy. The colors became warm and bright, making people fall into a beautiful atmosphere. This is the setting for a happy ending.
This is the characteristic of "Suicide Store" as a musical comedy. Although genre movies have routines and are more stylized, genre movies have a fixed audience and market, and the box office is good and easy to sell. Maybe it's a genre-specific movie. It uses a rebellious point of view to discuss life and death, and finally returns to the theme of the beauty of life. At the same time, it also allows people to regain confidence from laughter and face it with optimism.
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