An animated movie by Yusuke Hirota, “On the opposite facet of the sky” is an ecological and anti-totalitarian fable, for younger and previous.

Spat out by lengthy chimneys, black smoke fills a darkish and sinister sky, that of a “metropolis with out sky” imagined by Akihiro Nishino in a graphic novel, tailored to cinema by Yusuke Hirota. An animated movie, “On the Different Aspect of Heaven” (launched on August 17) first transports us to a metropolis of hell, a tragic and polluted Chimney Metropolis. A universe closed in on itself, a social and industrial heresy, the place the inhabitants don’t even have the information of a doable exterior world, the place it’s forbidden to search for (there’s nothing to see anyway), and the place just a few enlightened individuals appear to consider that stars would shine in a limpid sky.

Nevertheless, regardless of the ambient darkness, kids are dressed up and celebrating Halloween; among the many video games and shouts, a big creature emerges that everybody believes to be disguised, coated with rubbish and salvaged objects. A being of bricks and mortar actually product of rubbish, and rejected by all once they notice it. Apart from a bit of chimney sweep, Lubicchi, who saves him from a rubbish truck that will have led him straight to the dump. “What are you?” the kid asks; a “monster”, the authorities have determined. No, only a gangly factor, who walks a bit erratically, however is goodness itself. “Poupelle” is the identify given to this trashy being, who turns into Lubicchi’s greatest and solely buddy.

An explosion of colours

The boy braved his concern of heights to climb the enormous chimneys, took care of his mom whose lungs had been clogged with the foul ambiance, and firmly believed in what his father, who had disappeared at sea, had instructed him. Taken for a idiot by all of the others, he assured that on the opposite facet of the black sky there’s a vivid gentle and glowing stars. Drawn right into a whirlwind of misadventures, Lubicchi and Poupelle (needed by the evil Inquisitors of the police), will attempt collectively to get as shut as doable to the celebs, to show to everybody that they do exist, and that his father was proper.

In opposition to the greyness and darkness of this very unhappy metropolis, vivid and shimmering colours explode on this movie with stunning musical sequences. A singer, Philippe Katerine, lends his voice, stuffed with tenderness and innocence, to this pleasant Poupelle. By its graphic high quality and its humanistic content material, “On the opposite facet of the sky” joins the classics of Japanese animation. There’s definitely part of naivety and poetry on this ecological and societal fable, however it is usually a movie about distinction, exclusion, denunciation of a totalitarian society. A narrative for younger and previous alike, as a result of there isn’t a age restrict for dreaming of the celebs.

Patrick TARDIT

“On the opposite facet of the sky”, an animated movie by Yusuke Hirota (launched on August 17).