There is plenty to enjoy in Sylvain Chomet’s first foray into live action feature-making.
An intriguing blend of Michel Gondry-style visual trickery, song and dance interludes and an affecting central storyline make this new comedy film as charming as it is unusual. Sylvain Chomet (THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003) and THE ILLUSIONIST (2010)) makes the transition from animated to live action film with ease, writing, directing and co-writing the music for ATTILA MARCEL. Of the main cast of characters, Guillaume Gouix is particularly impressive in a double turn as both Paul, a mute piano prodigy tormented by childhood memories, and his father, the Attila Marcel of the film’s title.
Following a traumatic incident in which his parents were killed in a ceiling collapse, Paul has been living for most of his life under the watchful eyes of his two aunts in a plush city apartment, providing the musical accompaniment for the aunts’ dance classes. Over time Paul is coaxed away from his rigid existence by his downstairs neighbour, Madame Proust, a pseudo-mother figure to his real mother he misses so dearly. She persuades him to take part in a series of sessions during which Paul drinks a very unusual herbal tea that evokes the painful memories of his early years. The film begins with a quote by Marcel Proust and his influence is clear to see, not only in the name of the neighbour, but also in the regression sequences, where, fittingly, the taste of the herbal tea is masked by some freshly-baked madeleines.
victory over adversity provides a fitting end to a witty, enjoyable and crowd-pleasing film
The short segments of Paul’s regression allow Chomet to run riot with the seemingly ordinary items which hold so much importance for the young Paul, transforming them into objects of wonder. From the cartoonish fashions to the seemingly absurd events occurring around the outstretched limbs of baby Paul, everything is in bright technicolour, shown most clearly in an exuberant dance routine performed on a sun-bathed beach. The fact that these are all shot from the perspective of a baby allows an insight into the uninhibited relationship between his parents which might have been shielded from an older child, as well as a wide-eyed sense of wonder.
As Paul becomes more distant from his aunts and his previous, restricted life, so the influence of Madame Proust grows, and she encourages him to find his calling and, most importantly, choose a path of his own in life. A tentative romance begins with a cellist, following some amusingly unambiguous advances on her part. This victory over adversity provides a fitting end to a witty, enjoyable and crowd-pleasing film, which marks a significant departure for the director in terms of technique, but not in the overall spirit and sense of fun.