La Tortue Rouge (The Red Turtle)

The first Studio Ghibli international co-production is successful because without a single word, it manages to be poetic in a universal way. It's a very simple adult animation that follows a man that has been stranded in a remote island with a giant red turtle frustrating his attempts to escaping, But as simple as the story is, its value relies in its beautifully paced narrative and in the hypnotic traditional animation that is crafted with perfect taste and an incredible care of the aesthetic.

But the simplicity of this film lies only in its surface, because it sacrifices spoken language in order to create new communicating ways to engage us, it's creative to convey its message and it explores possibilities of story telling that average filmmakers tend to avoid. It also takes a good amount of time constructing its characters, and even if we never get to knew the details of their previous life, we get to see them growing and relating in a humane and sensitive way.

It also privileges the environment where it is developed, the island, the beach and the creatures take an important part of the narration, and the framing can capture this animism that gives it a mythical sense, it's as if we were contemplating a legendary tale about the life cycle; it's atemporal and universal. It is, in the pure style of Studio Ghibli, a new and thrilling approach to animation that could be enjoyed by all types of public.