Maybe it’s the Rock of Sisyphus
I’ve been trying to write a review of The Red Turtle (2016), a 2016 Oscar nominee in the animated film category, for nearly a week now, but it’s gone poorly. This is a movie which dispenses with subtlety and ambiguity in the tangible parts of the story, as there is no doubt to the actions taken by an anonymous man washed up on a deserted island, from his basic nourishment to his attempts to escape the island, nor does dialog exist to cloud the issue. Even his dreams, if initially misleading, are swiftly clarified as to their true nature.
The motivations of his antagonist, however, are less clear, as it blocks his attempts to leave. The actions are, again, beyond dispute, but the motivations are the bridge to the other part of this story – that of symbolism and metaphor, and these are quite ambiguous. In contrast, the concrete actions of the man, the violent and terminal destruction of his antagonist, are such that the audience may not be able to empathize or understand those actions.
And then we are treated to a metamorphosis, a puzzling occurrence that makes no tangible sense, nor does it really work for this viewer in the metaphorical realm, although I suspect there are several competing explanations. In tangible terms, a turtle sheds her shell and transforms into a beautiful human woman. The two become a mated pair and make the island their home. They reproduce and age. We see their son grow up and eventually leave the island. After a full life, the man dies – and his mate resumes her original form and returns to the sea.
Without a convenient explanation, it’s difficult to argue for, or against, The Red Turtle‘s thematic material, but I’ll give it a bit of a try. It was, in a word, punchless. If there’s a lesson to be learned & debated, it was too subtle for my rather straight-ahead temperament. I did not see an argument made for the integrity of the metaphor, whatever it might have been, or the validity of the thematic argument. As much as I enjoyed the minimalist artwork, the unusual story-telling style, and the very comedic crabs, my primary final emotion was neither exhilaration nor introspection; just puzzlement.
Taken as pure mythology or allegory, the story kind of works. But for someone who doesn’t deal well with ambiguity or unexplained lapses of logic, this film leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. I don’t know, though. Maybe that’s the point.
