Please excuse me I am about to gush uncontrolablly. This film had me staring at the screen wondering what I had gotten myself into. When it finished I was emailing friends and aquintances to see if they had seen it yet.
Simply Arturo and Roy's Ambriz I AM FRANKELDA (Soy Frankelda) is a cinematic masterpiece. This is a film whose visual wonders are going to make your brain explode.
Billed as the first stop motion film from Mexico, this is light years beyond what most studios are doing. There is so much detail in so many of the frames you are going to need multiple viewings just to catch everything. I completely understand why this film is on so many people's must see lists.
The plot of the film is about Francisca, a young woman who writes fiction that can open the walls between worlds. Her words attract the attention of Herneval, a owl prince. As the pair move in their worlds there is a plot afoot in Herneval's world would cause chaos for both worlds.
While you may sense a similarity to other fantastical tales, what the Ambriz Brother do is to expand the material found elsewhere including their series FRANKELD'S BOOK OF SPOOKS and make it something new and wonderful. With the canvas of a feature film they were able to let things play out and not have to worry about having to end every couple of minutes. Characters are more fleshed out and themes hit home. Everything is allowed to fill out as fully as possible.
I'm going to be honest and say it isn't perfect, there are some clunky moments. There are a couple of times where the Ambrizs don't quite hit their target, but at the same time they are aiming to do infinitely more than any animation studio in America. I will gladly take a film like that this that is full of wonders, heart and idea, but has a couple of burps, instead of a slick mindless distraction I'm going to forget. I say this as someone who has been wrestling with how to write this up for a week, while other film have come and gone.
Honestly you don't need me talking about this film, pulling it apart and saying what I think you should see. What you need to do is go out and buy a ticket and find your own wonder and magic.
Recommended.
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