Les contes de la nuit

If someone were to ask if I recommended Tales of the Night, the answer would be yes. It is a very simple film and doesn't break new ground from a thematic perspective. That doesn't matter because so much of the movie is beautifully done. The animation makes for a visual treat, not just the shadowy silhouettes for the character designs and the drama being conveyed but also the backgrounds with the gloriously vivid colours. The music doesn't overbear what's happening in the six featured stories, as well as being sensitive, lushly orchestrated and lyrical it allows the stories to speak for themselves. And speak for themselves they do, the moralising, positive messaging and lessons do not preach and are ones that anybody young and old can relate fully to as well as being important values. There is an Aesop's Fables feel at times especially in The Werewolf, not that that it is an issue, far from it. And the stories do have great atmosphere while never trying to be too complicated, The Boy Who Never Lied and Boy Tam-Tam are somewhat graphic yet magical. Personal favourite has to go to The Doe Girl and the Architect's Son, which contains the best animation of the film and is quite poignant. The characters don't break new ground either but they have a real charm to them and carry their stories very well. In fact, if there was anything that wasn't quite right it was the old-theatre-and-re-enacting links, not a bad idea but at times clumsily handled. Other than that, Tales of the Night is a very good film indeed. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Nice framing story of an old man and two younger aspiring directors who get together in an abandoned Parisian cinema to brainstorm and create. Interestingly, the creative process is not entirely clear: Are the two children acting? Providing a model for the old man to animate? Regardless, the six stories all transpire in "exotic" locales (including medieval Europe), which appealed a lot to my kids. We've now watched it twice, and they loved it both times. The silhouette animation, with its rich colors, is beautiful and surprisingly complex. Sienna's favorite story was the Aztec-inspired City of Gold and its snake protector/attacker, Sebastian's was the Tibetan story of the talking horse and the boy who never lied, and mine was the wizard and the architect's son.

I seriously have no idea why this was "made" 3-D. There was not real depth behind it (and I'm not even talking that much about character depth, though it is missing a bit too). While your imagination may be having a real hoot with this, your senses may tell you otherwise.

The story as it is, isn't that inventive either. It is nice and you can follow it pretty easy, but there is nothing special about the stories (3-D and animation aside that is, though as said, especially the former isn't really working on any level, no pun intended). I wonder what kids will think of this. Because they might be the main target audience for this. But I couldn't tell if this works for them ...

To any one reading "I wonder what kids will think of this. Because they might be the main target audience for this." and wondering the same. I can say that in the showing I saw there were a lot of kids and many French kids. No one was talking, everyone in the room was taken in and concentrating - no one left for the toilet - the only time there was any movement or sound was when the kids (and adults) were laughing with joy - especially at the "tom-tom magie". Each story contained morels and some potentiality tough subject matter for children, but in a well balanced way. I saw a subtitled version - that was not 3D. A beautiful story for beautiful people of any age.

Ocelot's toons have always had the unfamiliar (African) imagery working for them. Their naive plot lines have been both an attraction and a limitation.

This episode film, framed with sessions in the re-voicing studio - where an owl is perched on the desk - are not a step towards more traditional work.

The recognisable Ocelot style is here mixed with a bit of Lotte Reiniger and boosted by a fascinating use of Three D, which spaces the arms and eyes of the outline crowd at different distances from the viewer, among other effects. Was it ever shown anywhere else but the Paris Champs Elysses that way? Whether the makers can take this style further and how it will go down with the tot audiences, I've seen cheer the Kirikou films, has yet to be seen.