西班牙內(nèi)戰(zhàn)時(shí)期，人們?yōu)榱颂与x獨(dú)裁統(tǒng)治而來(lái)到了法國(guó)。面對(duì)大量外來(lái)人口的突然涌入，法國(guó)當(dāng)局將他們集中安置，然而生活區(qū)的條件十分艱苦。雖然有鐵絲網(wǎng)的阻隔，畫(huà)家何塞還是想盡辦法與外界溝通，尋找他失散的伴侶，并且和一位守衛(wèi)成為了好友。同時(shí)插畫(huà)家出身的導(dǎo)演奧雷爾，最大程度地讓何塞的畫(huà)作重新散發(fā)光彩，將其流暢地融于影片之中，著重描繪在艱難逆境中藝術(shù)的力量和頑強(qiáng)抗?fàn)幍木?，完美呼?yīng)了主人公之言：“美好的想法，如果不與美好的人相遇，就會(huì)消逝。”

Animation, as a visual art form, can detach itself from reality in the purest sense, those colorful, fanciful artifacts are able to escape any spatio-temporal, anthropocentric boundaries, therefore they are mostly apt for escapism, often designated to family fares. However, here are two exceptions, French cartoonist Aurel’s César Award winning feature debut JOSEP and Studio Ghibli’s enshrined classic GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, both associate themselves with the dreadful WWII and its harsh reality,

JOSEP’s title refers to Spanish painter/writer Josep Bartolí (1910-1995), and it centers on his harrowing experiences in a French internment camp as a refugee after fought in the Spanish civil war, the point in time is early 1939, months before the commencement of that blamed war, where he is befriended by a convivial gendarme Serge, camaraderie blossoms between them under the noxious conditions. Josep is subjected to taunts, humiliations and abuse from other mean-spirited, racist, anti-communist gendarmes, one of his fellow Spanish émigrés is beaten to death for defiance. To add injury to insult, Serge finds out Josep’s pregnant fiancée is severely injured, childless and in a disfigured, catatonic state.

Not shying away from the horrendous acts, scenarist Jean-Louis Milesi also tries to squeeze levity and sensuousness into this tale of woe, even conjures up Frida Kahlo into Josep’s fantasy, to whom he will be romantically linked years later in Mexico. But told in dribs and drabs, the narrative doesn’t amp up appreciable emotional impact, Bartolí is chummy, but no character for us to empathize with. And mingled with a frame story where an old Serge, on his deathbed, inculcates his modern-day grandson to carry on with his memory, JOSEP consciously wears its heart on its sleeve, but what is remarkable about it?

Fairly speaking, JOSEP possesses a distinctively western painting style, it looks primitive à la bande-dessinée, and unfurls in a frame-by-frame rigidity which dispenses with the function of cinematography, which renders the viewing experience rather different from most of its kind, it is retro, but not in a completely alluring way, you might be astounded by Aurel’s artistic flair, but for assimilation of what is presented on the screen, it could be a very different matter, even if you are compulsively ensorcelled by Sílvia Pérez Cruz’s exotic incidental music. A blue-ribbon artisan doesn’t necessarily make for a top-line filmmaker, which Japan’s Studio Ghibli knows absolutely the best.

Directed by the studio’s co-founder Isao Takahata, GRAVES OF THE FIREFLIES earns its prestige as a sure-fire tear-jerker for decades, and just when you fully gird yourself for the stimuli of your tear gland, bam! it shakes you up roundly in the off, a strategy pays dividends because by giving away the ending, it diminishes anxiety and prepares you to the inevitability with some semblance of resignation, it is not an artisanal decision, but from the mastermind of a competent filmmaker and astute storyteller.

The story takes place is the dog-end of WWII, Kobe is beset with air raids, two young siblings, Seita, a school-kid and his four-year-old sister Setsuko, have to live off their limited means after their mother perished (while their father is a navy officer in the line of duty) and a stint of staying with their aunt turns sour. Here the underbelly of realism sneaks in (the story is adapted from Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-biographical novel), a majority of the adults aren’t sympathetic figures who, you might take it for granted, will show partiality towards parentless kids, no, not for those who husband their sustenance in a war-ridden city, where they are benumbed and desensitized by hardship and casualty. Warfare always brings out the worst of humanity, that is a given.

If the plot is a poverty porn of the highest water, viz. young kids suffer and wither in privation, Takahata magnificently tones down the tragedy with episodes of poetry and reminiscences, even happiness (however fleeting it is), using firefly as a metaphor for evanescent lives, the whole film suffuses with exceptionally tender moments and picturesque illustrations that have been scarcely rivaled ever since. That is the simplicity and beauty of cel animation, I would even prefer this to Hayao Miyazaki’s MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, released in the same year, not because of its technique, but of how Takahata leavens a lachrymose text with adroit considerations, especially those concerning Setsuko, her declining process is depicted with such insuperable felicity (a fruit drop can leave you feel pulverized), everything can be tactlessly fell into mawkishness or ickiness, but GRAVES OF THE FIREFLIES lends its feet victoriously in the end.

Smart, if over-smart, is Takahata’s stance on the warfare, by skipping a larger context, he evades a straight answer which may divide his audience, so you can read it as either anti-war or an anti-defeat, that doesn’t particularly of Takahata’s concern, his point seems to be, if I many conjecture, a country must always value and prioritize its citizen’s life above everything else, otherwise, war or no war, the failure is on all of us.

referential entries: Yoshifumi Kond?’s WHISPER OF THE HEART (1995, 8.2/10); Sylvain Chomet’s THE ILLUSIONIST (2010, 7.1/10); Hayao Miyazaki’s MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988, 8.0/10).

Title: Josep

Year: 2020

Country: France, Spain, Belgium

Language: French, Spanish, Catalan, English

Genre: Animation, Biography, Drama

Director: Aurel

Screenwriter: Jean-Louis Milesi

Music: Sílvia Pérez Cruz

Editing: Thomas Belair

Voice Cast:

Sergi López

Bruno Solo

Fran?ois Morel

Gérard Hernandez

David Marsais

Valérie Lemercier

Alain Cauchi

Sílvia Pérez Cruz

Rating: 6.8/10

English Title: Grave of the Fireflies

Original Title: Hotaru no haka

Year: 1988

Country: Japan, USA

Language: Japanese

Genre: Animation, War, Drama

Director/Screenwriter: Isao Takahata

based on the novel by Akiyuki Nosaka

Music: Michio Mamiya

Cinematography: Nobuo Koyama

Editing: Takeshi Seyama

Voice Cast:

Tsutomu Tatsumi

Ayano Shiraishi

Akemi Tamaguchi

Rating: 8.4/10

西班牙內(nèi)戰(zhàn)時(shí)期，人們?yōu)榱颂与x獨(dú)裁統(tǒng)治而來(lái)到了法國(guó)。面對(duì)大量外來(lái)人口的突然涌入，法國(guó)當(dāng)局將他們集中安置，然而生活區(qū)的條件十分艱苦。雖然有鐵絲網(wǎng)的阻隔，畫(huà)家何塞還是想盡辦法與外界溝通，尋找他失散的伴侶，并且和一位守衛(wèi)成為了好友。同時(shí)插畫(huà)家出身的導(dǎo)演奧雷爾，最大程度地讓何塞的畫(huà)作重新散發(fā)光彩，將其流暢地融于影片之中，著重描繪在艱難逆境中藝術(shù)的力量和頑強(qiáng)抗?fàn)幍木瘢昝篮魬?yīng)了主人公之言：“美好的想法，如果不與美好的人相遇，就會(huì)消逝。”

片子里的塞內(nèi)加爾雇傭兵有哲學(xué)家色彩。

1. 如果黑色不存在，您的咖啡就是牛奶。如果白色不存在，柯拉果就是煤炭。Si le noir n'existe pas, votre café serait du lait. Si le blanc n'existe pas, la kola serait du charbon. （這果子好苦！）(C'est amer!) 萬(wàn)事皆如此。如果苦味殺不死你，你就會(huì)習(xí)慣。再多嚼一會(huì)兒。慢慢嚼。Comme pour toutes choses. On s'y habitue si on n'en meurt pas. Il faut macher longtemps. Lentement.

2. 謝謝你們，女士們。C'est bien aimable à vous, mesdames.

說(shuō)這話(huà)的時(shí)候他在編繩套，為后面劇情埋下伏筆。

3. 君子報(bào)仇十年不晚。Un jour tu tresses la corde, un autre tu pends le cochon, entre les deux ton corps fléchit (?).

這句話(huà)字面意思好像是從你開(kāi)始編繩套那一天，到你把豬絞死那一天之間，你要卑躬屈膝。回應(yīng)前面編繩套的情節(jié)，像豬一樣的獄卒，以及后面的情節(jié)。

4. 我們要回營(yíng)房了，德國(guó)佬那邊的局勢(shì)好像升溫了。我們會(huì)打敗他們。Dans notre caserne. Il semblait que ?a commence à se chauffer là-haut des c?tés des boches. On va les mettre à bater (?).

原文意思好像是要讓德國(guó)佬像驢一樣馱著東西走。

5. 我沒(méi)看到他走，我怎么開(kāi)槍?zhuān)縎i je ne vois pas sortir, pourquoi je tirerai dessus? （我意識(shí)到他不會(huì)違抗命令，他只會(huì)睜一只眼閉一只眼。）(J'ai compris qu'il n'aurait pas désobéi aux ordres, mais simplement regardé ailleurs.)

開(kāi)場(chǎng)伴隨著西班牙內(nèi)戰(zhàn)著名歌曲《到街壘去》，觀眾回到了1939年那個(gè)殘酷的冬天。

西班牙內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的失敗，使得共產(chǎn)主義者、社會(huì)主義者、安那其主義者、共和主義者不得不流亡海外。當(dāng)難民們來(lái)到法國(guó)邊境，迎接他們的是冷冰冰的訓(xùn)斥與一條通往難民營(yíng)的道路。西班牙人從沒(méi)有這樣沮喪過(guò)——斯大林出賣(mài)了革命，與德國(guó)法西斯媾和。斯大林狗腿子西班牙共產(chǎn)黨在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)危難時(shí)刻黨同伐異，共和國(guó)的警察擁有先進(jìn)的裝備，卻終日游蕩在戒嚴(yán)的街道上。沒(méi)有人想到革命的結(jié)局會(huì)是這樣。

在最后一艘法國(guó)船只駛離海岸，絕望的人們陸續(xù)舉起槍?zhuān)渲胁环ι聿目嗟嫔珣n(yōu)郁的年輕人。

槍響過(guò)后，他們會(huì)上天堂嗎？或許他們從來(lái)不相信天堂，但他們?cè)?jīng)相信正義、自由與理想。他們不遠(yuǎn)萬(wàn)里來(lái)到西班牙的前線。他們是工人、婦女、侍應(yīng)生、作家、詩(shī)人、畫(huà)家、雕塑家和勇敢的宣傳者；他們是加拿大的醫(yī)生，美利堅(jiān)的小說(shuō)家、智利的詩(shī)人、英國(guó)的同性戀者、匈牙利的攝影師；他們是白求恩、海明威、聶魯達(dá)、奧登、卡帕......

他們是一切反對(duì)專(zhuān)制與暴政的勇者。

在這個(gè)普遍保守化的年代，每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該有一點(diǎn)打破刻板印象的勇氣。

愿革命者的熱情永不消退。

法國(guó)動(dòng)畫(huà)片向來(lái)與美國(guó)或日本有著截然不同的畫(huà)風(fēng)和表現(xiàn)空間，往往融入創(chuàng)作者狂野的想象力與濃烈的個(gè)人風(fēng)格，從千禧年初的《瘋狂約會(huì)美麗都》開(kāi)始，五光十色的法國(guó)動(dòng)畫(huà)在主流動(dòng)畫(huà)之外找到獨(dú)特繁茂的存活天地。《大壞狐貍的故事》、《迪麗麗的奇幻巴黎》、《我失去了身體》這些作品驚艷四座、讓人過(guò)目難忘，而這部入圍去年戛納官方選擇的《何塞》也同樣不讓人失望。

該片先后獲得了歐洲電影獎(jiǎng)最佳動(dòng)畫(huà)、法國(guó)“路易德·呂克”獎(jiǎng)最佳處女作和法國(guó)電影凱撒獎(jiǎng)最佳動(dòng)畫(huà)片，影片導(dǎo)演奧雷爾（Aurel）是法國(guó)《世界報(bào)》和周刊LE CANARD ENCHA?Né的常駐插畫(huà)家，《何塞》是他的第一部動(dòng)畫(huà)長(zhǎng)片。故事講述西班牙流亡畫(huà)家Josep Bartolí在二戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)前夕在難民營(yíng)與一位法國(guó)憲兵的一段畢生難忘的經(jīng)歷。他在難民營(yíng)期間飽受歧視和虐待，更失去與未婚妻的團(tuán)聚機(jī)會(huì)，之后在憲兵的幫助下逃離難民營(yíng)，前往墨西哥，最后在紐約安度晚年。

▲流亡畫(huà)家與法國(guó)憲兵

導(dǎo)演沒(méi)有采取常規(guī)的第一人稱(chēng)來(lái)敘述傳奇畫(huà)家的生平，而是采用當(dāng)年他在難民營(yíng)結(jié)識(shí)的法國(guó)憲兵的回憶視角展開(kāi)敘事。殘酷沉重的歷史與五味雜陳的回憶相互糾纏，娓娓道出法國(guó)/西班牙邊境上的浮生百態(tài)，不僅有難民和憲兵，還有黑人和共產(chǎn)主義者。導(dǎo)演更將矛頭大膽指向弗朗哥獨(dú)裁暴政、法國(guó)政府默許下的種族歧視和虐待女性及難民的卑劣行為。這些復(fù)雜的歷史背景為這個(gè)人物傳記提供強(qiáng)有力的表現(xiàn)角度，畫(huà)家在逆境中堅(jiān)持創(chuàng)作和頑強(qiáng)抗?fàn)幍木窳钊藙?dòng)容。在戰(zhàn)亂和暴政的年代里，藝術(shù)或許微不足道，不能挽救生命，卻能讓畫(huà)家與憲兵建立起矢志不渝的友情，喚醒出人性中的光輝，完美呼應(yīng)了主人公之言：“美好的想法，如果不與美好的人相遇，就會(huì)消逝?！?/p>

除了病榻上祖父回憶的視角，導(dǎo)演更頗有心思地建構(gòu)出另一層觀察視角，透過(guò)其孫子的傾聽(tīng)和詢(xún)問(wèn)，讓祖父這段回憶時(shí)而中斷，時(shí)而混入真假難辨的細(xì)節(jié)（從海里出現(xiàn)的女畫(huà)家弗里達(dá)），令故事變得錯(cuò)落有致。更有深意的是，孫子這個(gè)同樣熱衷繪畫(huà)的角色巧妙地將過(guò)去與現(xiàn)在連結(jié)起來(lái)，從年輕一代的角度去體驗(yàn)流亡畫(huà)家的經(jīng)歷。在和平年代的年輕人疏于觀察，在豐富的生活里找不著創(chuàng)作內(nèi)容，而流亡畫(huà)家在艱險(xiǎn)的環(huán)境中，卻能捕捉到顛沛流離的人生百態(tài)，兩者形成強(qiáng)烈的對(duì)比。

▲何塞與弗里達(dá)

這部動(dòng)畫(huà)的手繪畫(huà)風(fēng)近乎簡(jiǎn)陋，給人一種不連貫的質(zhì)感，卻意外地呼應(yīng)著歷史的沉重感；人物遲緩的動(dòng)作和凝滯的表情耐人尋味，像是讓觀眾緩緩撥開(kāi)隱藏于塵封歷史的記憶屏障。導(dǎo)演更將流亡畫(huà)家的作品融入到敘事情節(jié)里，畫(huà)風(fēng)隨著畫(huà)家的經(jīng)歷而變化，線條與色彩展現(xiàn)出他不同時(shí)期的風(fēng)格，實(shí)則暗藏其本人內(nèi)心世界的演變。他在難民營(yíng)時(shí)期用鉛筆畫(huà)素描，沒(méi)有上色，之后在墨西哥的創(chuàng)作才驚現(xiàn)濃墨重彩，卻放棄了人物線條的勾勒。這種劇烈的轉(zhuǎn)變無(wú)疑證明了何塞終于克服了戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和流亡的恐懼，徹底解開(kāi)了內(nèi)心的束縛，敢于面對(duì)不堪回首的過(guò)往。

首發(fā)于電影公眾號(hào)電影觸覺(jué)CineTouch