Nocturna

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

From October 1-12, 2008 at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 1, (Makati City, Philippines) this film is one of the many offerings for the 7th Spanish Film Festival.

As a lover of animated films, I braved the howling winds and heavy downpour that Saturday to run to theater and pay PHP 65. It was such a bargain!

Compared to the film I saw and the enjoyment I had experienced upon viewing it, definitely I was quite contented already with how the afternoon turned out.

The Directors:
Adriá García and Victor Maldonado were born in Barcelona, Spain and studied fine arts at the University of Barcelona. They have both worked extensively in the field of animation including screenwriting, character development and storyboarding. They have designed visual identities for companies and characters for music videos and advertising. They were also the artistic directors of the animated feature El Cid: The Legend. This film is their directorial debut.

Screening Schedules:
October 5, 2008: 2 pm
October 11, 2008: 2 pm

Duration: 80 minutes

Awards:
Best Animation Film, Goya Awards, 2008
Best Animated Feature, Barcelona Film Awards, 2007

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Fifteen minutes of the first part of the film had no English subtitles. Luckily, some of the conversation in Spanish were not that difficult to translate, and I was definitely beginning to enjoy listening to the Spanish words being uttered, when they reset it and set it to English instead, with Spanish subtitles.

*sigh* Why not the other way around? It was a bit distracting hearing the somewhat British-accented voices of the children...the kids sounded snotty instead of the lilting tones of the native Spanish I first heard. Hmm..dubbers fault perhaps?

I admit I have a fondness for Japanese animated films, and I would rate them higher than the Disney ones which I also see. This film though, gave me a different perspective on Spanish animation.

*WARNING!!*

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD

read at your own risk





The tale is, well, not that new to me, in fact, I sort of guessed how in the end the character Tim would conquer his fear of the dark when I saw the scene of Tim being afraid of getting the ball he had lost from the dark, gloomy basement. Children -> afraid of the dark -> star -> sky -> evil monster/shadow..well, you know the drill.

I just didn't foresee all the details of the magical journey he would undertake.

Oh yes, our character Tim is a young boy.....
Who lives in an orphanage (fun scenes of Tim going around the labyrinthine place by the way)....
Who makes chalk drawings on the roof.....
Who is afraid of the dark, so much so that he drags his bed at night and opens the window (with a knob he hides) to look onto the sky and stars. A star, which he claims as his own, is one which he names as Adara. His mother had told him that he has a special one which watches over him.

One night, he is forced onto the roof due to his fear of the darkness and notices that his star, and many other stars, begin to disappear one by one. He panics, he falls, and...

Whoosh! A weird figure, which I don't really know if I should call "it" a man or a cat (henceforth named as the Cat Shepherd) rescues him.

Apparently there is a different world - the nighttime world named Nocturna and different magical denizens of this world oversee everything that happens during this time.

Getting to know, even in passing, the quirky, magical characters and the jobs they have in keeping Nocturna in its normal state is sure to please the children.

You thought your messy hair after a night's sleep was par for the course? Nope, you can thank the "Hair Messers" for that. Apparently they spend time "designing" your messy, clumpy, tangled hairstyle which you have to comb neatly in the morning.

The nighttime sounds such as the seeming strike of the branches on the window? Just part of the music played by an elaborate orchestra, complete with maestro.

Let's not forget Tobermory, Tim's "nighttime cat" whose job apparently is to lull Tim to sleep with his "miaos". I chuckled upon realizing that Tobermory slept more than his insomniac charge. Yes, the cats at night have the job of making sure the children sleep.

There is also Moka, who seems to be a coffee addict, and he oversees this nighttime realm. And, yes, a character named Mr. Pee...who...well, its not necessary to get into that. But you'll see how useful his talent is.

Its charming how they explained away how the moon worked, how the stars shined light on our world. Even the Luminos(who occupy the lampposts) are strangely cute too.

Of course, to provide some drama instead of just a run-through of all the Nocturna denizens and the realm, there's danger lurking, and guess who is supposed to stop the big bad Shadow?

Tim, of course!...ably helped by the North Star, the Cat Shepherd and one Luminos whose name I don't know. Tim conquers finally his fear of the dark and overpowers the Shadow, which in the first place, was his fault anyway. So, good for him!

As a film, I enjoyed it. The story is not something I would compare to "Howl's Moving Castle" or "Spirited Away", but has that touch of magic which is essential to children viewing this kind of films.

For me, it was the music paired with important scenes which made me enjoy the film. It sounded like a music box tinkling away sometimes...but it always was appropriate to how the scene played out.

The style of animation, I regret I cannot technically dissect, but the colors and set may be possibly reminiscent of some Spanish architect...like Antonio Gaudi perhaps?

By all means, go ahead and enjoy this film.
Maybe you once too were afraid of the dark as a child.
It is a story which will make you journey back to your childhood (if you are already a big carabao by now), give hurrahs for the triumph of good over evil, and see the night world through a child's wondering eyes. You might have a different view of the night after this...

Although I missed the Spanish nuances in the conversation because I had to listen to the mismatched English tones (I enjoyed Harry Potter movies so am not sure why the voices here bothered me)......

....well, at least the film wasn't making me wish I was in Nocturna too and had a cat who lulled me to sleep in order to avoid looking at the film...