The Most Precious of Cargoes

Initially, I thought we were in for a reversion of "Tom Thumb" as a surly woodcutter and his wife live a subsistence existence in the snowy forest where she longs for a child, but we are swiftly disabused of that theory! Their lives are only ever broken up by the disturbance of the train as it passes through, and it's when praying to that one day that she thinks she hears a baby crying. Searching the snow, she quickly discovers an infant wrapped in a distinctive blanket and quickly takes it to their home. Her husband, though, feels the child to be an ill omen and wants nothing to do with it, so with her and the bairn confined to the cold of the woodshed, she has to try to find it some milk! That's just the start of her travails, though, as we are gradually clued in to where this baby came from, and of the fate that awaited it's parents that led to such a desperate act of love. What now ensues follows her struggle to keep herself and the child from an increasingly approaching war that had hitherto largely left them be, and that might ultimately dot the i's and cross the t's of a story that is touching, courageous and heartening. The almost constant wintery scenario adds an additional chill to a stylishly presented animation that features a sparing degree of dialogue, but some fairly effective audio effects to help create a variety of emotions as the child begins to grow and this simple, decent, family find they no longer have their problems to seek. It's perhaps the last half hour that resonates most, as threads of the tale start to bind together revealing a degree of bleakness and inhumanity on one hand and yet the diametric opposite on the other. What wouldn't a parent do for a child?

"Cartoons are for children," they say - and then a film like The Most Precious of Cargoes proves otherwise. Set during the Holocaust, this animated tale uses simplicity to its advantage, telling a stripped-down yet deeply moving story that feels part fairy tale, part nightmare. With haunting visuals and a quiet emotional weight, it reminds us that kindness and courage are not just noble ideas but actions - especially when humanity is at its most fragile. It's a powerful use of animation to reflect on real horrors and lasting hope. A deeply human story, told with grace.

An absolute a hopeless cinema.

Michel Hazanavicius first animated feature isn't the grandest of storytelling when it comes to discussions about the holocaust. However, the ambitious nature, beautiful score, voice performances, and realistic colorful uses of animation provides a promising tale of family, the harsh realities and the natures of war during the WWII era.

Michel Hazanavicius has made a few good movies like The Artist and Redoubtable but he hasn't been good movies in some time. However, with this one, Hazanavicius offers a good glimpse of humanity. Demonstrating through the characters and animation about how despite the cruel reality and the war effects, hope remains strong and compassion is important. The characters between a woodcutter couple were interesting as their emotions and personalities, while could have been a bit more broader, offers a good examination of their goals and personalities. Alongside with the good musical score and the voice performances from the cast.

The animation holds well with the models, colors, and sound designs. Although, a little picky moments were some of the lip movements didn't match the animation at times. The direction from Hazanavicius is good and including a good pacing.

At the end, it's not the best WWII tale but a good animated tale and reminder of the past.

"The most precious of cargoes" is an animated movie. It is made by Michel Hazanavicius, who I only knew from "The artist" (2011) more than 10 years ago. A director switching to the animation genre immediatly made me curious. Even Stanley Kubrick, who tried a new genre with every new film, never ventured into animation

"The most precious of cargoes" is an animated movie about the Holocaust. There were some voices that an animated movie is not well suited for such a serious subject. I don't agree after seeing the movie. Moreover such discussions have been going on for a long time. After Roberto Benigni made a tragedy / comedy with "La vita e bella" in 1997 he more or less faced the same criticism.

I first thought that the film would be akin to "The zone of interest" (2023, Jonathan Glazer) with the following differences: The relation to the Holocaust is not that the family is living next to Auschwitz ("The zone of interest") but next to the railroad track for the trains heading to Auschwitz.

The family in "The most precious of cargoes" is simple and good in stead of upper middle class and evil.

In "The zone of interest" the horrors of the Holocaust can only be heard but not seen, while in the second part of "The most precious of cargoes" there are some horrible images.

The second association is that with a fairy tale. This association is reinforced by a voice over that begins with "Once upon a time". By the way the narrator in this film is Jean Louis Trintignant in his last "appearance", and the way he introduces the story at the beginning and summarizes the moral at the end alone makes the film worth watching.

As a fairy tale the mood of the film for a large part resembles that of "Bambi" (1942, Walt Disney) with men against men in stead of men against deer. But don't be fooled. Contrary to "Bambi" there are some explicit images in "The most prescious of cargoes".

Just like "The zone of interest", "The most precious of cargoes" is about the Holocaust in the first place but on a more abstract level also about something more general. "The zone of interest" is also about the banality of evil as it is called by philosopher Hannah Ahrendt. "The most precious of cargoes" is also about the power of love. This sounds teribble sentmental, but listen to the last voice over of Jean Louis Trintignant and I hope you agree it isn't.

By the way stories about baby's of a persecuted race abaondend in pure despair are as old as the human race itself. Think about the story of Moses from the Old Testament.

The Most Precious of Cargoes is a friendly reminder that life is not fiction, and that much more important things can happen that are way further beyond belief.

The film takes place in a dark, wintry forest on the outskirts of Auschwitz during the height of World War II. A poor woodcutter and a poor woodcutter's wife have lost their only child and aged out of the potential to have more. They pass their days in uneasy détente, him content without worrying another mouth to feed while she prays to every god at her disposal for another chance at motherhood. It's a cold, cruel world; always winter, but never Christmas, and the snowflakes that dance gently upon the wind evoke the ashes that rise from the fiery stacks of the nearby camp.