Savages: an ecological and poetic tale (review)

Savages: an ecological and poetic tale (review)

The portrait of a child fighting against the destruction of a forest on the island of Borneo by the director of My Life as Courgette. A film that should thrill young audiences.

Eight years after the marvelous My life as a zucchinisay that the new Claude Barras was expected is an understatement. And, let’s say it straight away, he didn’t miss the mark with this ecological tale which has already seduced Cannes and Annecy. He takes us here to Borneo, into an ancestral tropical forest threatened with destruction by greedy logging companies. And tells the fight of a little city girl – whose father works on an oil palm plantation – to prevent it by reconnecting with the nomadic part of her family, that of her mother who died too soon, living in the heart of this forest. A double initiatory story where she will learn political-ecological commitment while discovering the family secrets buried by her father to protect her.

There is here in Barras the desire to deliver a message aimed at the youngest, in a cleverly orchestrated mixture between the realism of the situations and the poetry of their treatment. Without ever infantilizing things. In line with My life as a Zucchiniits stop-motion animation and all the expressiveness of its puppets with huge eyes would melt the driest hearts. But, on this ground, Barras here pushes the cursor even further in the care taken in the creation of this lush forest, where each leaf, each plant has been drawn by hand. With Savages, the Swiss creates an immersive film where this enveloping form accompanies his primary desire: to celebrate the struggles of a youth wishing to correct the errors of its elders.

By Claude Barras. With the voices of Laëtitia Dosch, Benoît Poelvoorde, Michel Vuillermoz… Duration 1h27. Released October 16, 2024

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