Film Review: ‘Marona’s Fantastic Tale’

Source: Variety
Publish Date: October 23, 2019
Author: Peter Debruge

[…] For Damian, the Paris-set “Marona” (which exists in both French- and Romanian-language versions) marks a significant departure both in tone and style from her previous work, most notably “Crulic – The Path to Beyond,” with its dreary palette and relatively depressing story (about a Romanian man who died on hunger strike in a Polish prison). Eye-tickling in its design, occasionally tear-jerking in its execution, “Marona” feels vibrant and upbeat even in moments of melancholy — like diving into an artistic child’s sketchbook and watching the illustrations splash to life all around. If this were a painting, we might classify it as “primitivism,” although the pseudo-naïve approach (a collaboration with Belgian artist Brecht Evens, whom Damian enlisted to work on his first animated project) works perfectly with such a protagonist. Marona views things differently from people, and the movie reflects that.

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