Five stars. Rating: Suitable for all ages, despite the ludicrous PG rating for "scary moments"
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 2.28.14
“Adorable” can’t convey my depth
of feeling for this enchanting little film.
Indeed, mere words seem wholly
insufficient.
 |
| Once Celestine, left, and Ernest get over their mutual distrust, an increasingly devoted friendship blooms. But it's also a forbidden relationship in a land where the distinct communities of mice and bears fear each other, and therefore matters are certain to take an unfortunate turn. |
Despite being one of the 2013
Academy Awards nominees for best animated feature, Ernest & Celestine remains virtually unknown to American viewers, aside from the lucky few who may
have caught it at a film festival. Frankly, this film’s obscurity is tragic ...
and typical of an emerging pattern in this Oscar category.
For the past several years, since
the rising popularity of animated films has prompted a corresponding abundance
of nominees, some of them have raised puzzled eyebrows. While the animation
branch’s nominating members are to be congratulated for citing entries from
outside the United States, that generosity of spirit hasn’t been embraced by
American movie distributors ... nor by mainstream American viewers who, already
reluctant to subject themselves to live-action foreign films, apparently are
even less willing to watch animated foreign films.
Thus, a frustrating pattern has
emerged, particularly for dedicated Oscar fans wanting to catch as many
nominees as possible, prior to the annual awards ceremony. That has become
quite difficult — even impossible — with the animated features, since some of
them don’t get released here in the States until weeks after the Oscars.
Back in 2009, the
French/Belgian/Irish The Secret of Kells didn’t garner American distribution
until mid-March ... and then availability was spotty, at best. In 2011, the
same was true of Chico & Rita (Spain and the UK) and A Cat in Paris (France, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands).
Never heard of any of them? I’m
not surprised. Saturation-booked, high-profile domestic entries from Pixar,
Disney and DreamWorks steal all the media focus.
But being louder and more
ubiquitous doesn’t make them better than their overlooked and under-appreciated
peers.
This year, that same fate has
befallen superstar Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises and the
French/Belgian co-production of Ernest & Celestine. Miyazaki’s film, at
least, is being released in our market today; Oscar stalwarts have roughly 48
hours to catch it before Sunday’s awards broadcast.
