This morning was something, let me tell you. My original intention was to watch The Book of Life on Disney+. However, the streaming service would not load for me, despite trying multiple times. Scrambling to find a replacement film, I browsed through hundreds of films on other streaming services looking for anything of interest—in particular, animation.
With no luck, I escaped to Letterboxd for a more in-depth search. (I had been searching for nearly an hour by this point.) Then I came across J’ai perdu mon corps (or I Lost My Body), something a critic I trust liked quite a bit. With a short runtime and an intriguing synopsis, I said, “Fuck it” and booted it up. Ended up being a solid choice!
[Post will be short.]
Copy-Pasted Synopsis
“A story of Naoufel, a young man who is in love with Gabrielle. In another part of town, a severed hand escapes from a dissection lab, determined to find its body again.” – IMDb
Actual Lazy Review
I did not intend to watch a second animated film from France this month, but hey, variety is always fun.
One word: emotion. That is what stands out most here. Little things, like wanting to further communication with another or listening to the sound of your parents’ voices, are presented with such tenderness. Melancholic as much of this is, there’s a sense of wonder to it that makes it appealing.
Still, certain things make it a tad uneven. The short runtime (barely 80 minutes) means not a whole lot of things are developed adequately enough. Certain characters come in and out as dictated by the script, hardly feeling that human. It’s isolated in its scope to simply reap all the potential of the central character. Though it works mostly, I couldn’t help but wonder about these loose ends.
Some films I’ve seen this month have had nice sounds surround them at times, but few have as consistently moving tracks as I Lost My Body. A soft synth and rhythmic beats ease in and out of various scenes, caressed by running fingers. It was easy to recall specific scenes only from what played during them, accentuating the emotional capacity for them. I’d be willing to listen to the soundtrack at some point.
Conclusion
A good, not great animated film that has a lot of emotional depth and a lovely soundtrack. Narratively, there are some undercooked portions that leave a little to be desired, though its evocative art direction and sympathetic lead ease one in quickly. It’s also kind of morbid sometimes! Worth a watch if you like this sort of animated poetry.
Final Score: 7/10
The rating for all other films can be found at Letterboxd.
For more, check out the March of the Movies Archive!
Thank you for your time. Have a great timezone.
The Visualist's Veranda 