The French Film Festival gets animated with ‘The Painting’

The penultimate movie of the Tournees French Film Festival, “The Painting,” was shown in Edwards Auditorium on Tuesday evening.

The Painting (Le Tableau) is a 2011 animated film directed by Jean-François Laguionie.  The film begins in an unfinished piece of art. The denizens of the painting are divided into different classes, depending on if they were finished by their painter or not. The Allduns, who are entirely painted, are prejudiced against the Sketchies, who as their name suggests are unfinished drawings, with the Halfies occupying the middle class. Eventually, a member of each class finds out there’s a world outside of their painting, and embark on an adventure to see the rest of the paintings that surround them and see if they can convince their artist to complete them and bring an end to their struggles.

The film showcases a beautiful and unique animation style, with the different paintings all having a distinct feel and look. Running at a brisk 76 minutes, “The Painting” also acts upon deeper meanings than an average animated film, touching upon issues of class, prejudice, and the existence of higher powers.

A brief discussion followed the viewing of the film where audience members agreed that the movie dealt with themes of racism and existence in a unique way. When asked why this film was chosen to be shown, the Festival’s coordinator Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp said that “The Painting” was chosen because they wanted to show a mix of different types of films and genres, and that this one in particular stuck out because it depicted the theme of diversity through metaphor and art.

The Tournees French Film Festival was made possible by a grant from the Franco-American Cultural Exchange and several sponsors, including the Cultural Services of the French Embassy of the US, the Franco-American Cultural Fund, and Campus France USA.

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