Essay Sample on My Life as a Zucchini: The Journey of Icare After Losing His Mom

I have chosen the film My Life as a Zucchini (Switzerland/France, 2006, stop-motion). My Life as a Zucchini is one of the animated films that briefly talks about the journey of one of the major characters called Zucchini after the death of his mother. Before he was named Zucchini, he was initially known as Icare. The film begins with one of the instances whereby Icare went to awake his mother, who was drunken. He expected his mother to wake up, but instead, she wakes up and, thereafter, climbs attic room. She then tries to impose him on punishment, but unfortunately, she dies after falling down from a ladder.

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Due death of his mother, Icare, therefore, decided to make a phone call to one of the detective police officers called Raymond and informed him to be named as Zucchini, the name that his mother usually called him while she was still alive. Zucchini was left with no families, and therefore it was their responsibility with his siblings to come up with a new family. He was thereafter taken into an orphanage by Raymond. At the orphanage, zucchini interacted with Simon concerning how they found themselves at the orphanage. As Karli Max explains, one of the reasons for being at the orphanage as claimed by some children is that their parents had been jailed while others have lost their parents. Zucchini also meets with kids such as Camille, who was one of the witnesses of his parent’s murder.

The movie ends with a clear indication that Zucchini, together with his friends, encountered various challenges because they witness the death of their parents. Therefore, My Life a Zucchini is considered to be educated among the audience because it narrates the journey of most of the children who were at the orphanage. The main subject that is covered by the film My Life as a Zucchini is basically about the challenges that are usually encountered by the children who have lost their parents. Some of the challenges include being lonely due to the absence of family members.

The plot of My Life as a Zucchini explains the journey of Zucchini from his homestead into an orphanage after his mother died. The plot also focusses on how Zucchini was taken by an officer into an orphanage. Also, the plot indicates how Zucchini meet with some of his first friends immediately arriving at the orphanage. The setting of this film based in France. As shown by Giardina Carolyn, there are various issues that have been raised in the film My Life as a Zucchini. Death is one of the issues that have been depicted by the film because Zucchini’s mother died as she was trying to climb in the attic room. Loneliness is the other issue that can be drawn from the film since Zucchini was in a condition of loneliness after his mother died.

I see the main purpose of the film My Life as a Zucchini was meant to educate people on matters relating to orphans in our various societies. Through the ideas of this film, people can learn to be caring and concern to the children who lost their parents in their different communities.

The major themes that can be drawn from this film are death and love. Death can be seen in the film My Life as a Zucchini through the death of his mother. Love is drawn from an instance whereby Raymond was concern about Zucchini's life by taking him into a nearby orphanage. Raymond also showed love to Zucchini because he usually takes him for a visit

The film quality is good since it has been performed in an organized manner. The screenplay clearly displays the pictures presented in terms of cartons, and these pictures reveal abuses and violence that orphanage children pass through. The direction of the film is clear because it guides the audiences from one step to another, thus helping them to easily understand the content of the film, thus eliminating confusion. This has been enhanced by facial expressions and gestures. When it comes to production values and music, the film has presented it in an appropriate manner, therefore, attracting the attention of the audience. Music that has been used as an emotional effect on the audience, as well as it breaks the monotony of narration throughout the film. Moreover, the film has portrayed various styles, such as symbolism and foreshadowing. The style of symbolism as shown by Pressberg Matt is evident from a situation whereby Raymond, Zucchini, and Camille had fun in a park. When it comes to Character development, I comment that Raymond played a critical role through his character trait of caring. He demonstrated the virtue of caring by taking Zucchini to an orphanage. I also comment on the foreshowing that has been employed by the filmmaker as useful to the viewers because it helps them to easily know the lives of different characters in the film, for instance, Zucchini.

The medium of the film possesses effects on the viewers because it signifies emotional suffering that undergone by the orphans in our various societies. The film is realistic since it reflects the challenges that are pass-through by the orphans after the death of their parents. When it comes to whether if the film contradicts what I have learned, I disagree that the film does not display any kind of contradiction because most of the issues that are being addressed by the film entail the journey of the orphans due to absence of their parents.

Conclusion

There are various strengths and weakness that has been depicted by the film of My Life as a Zucchini. One of the weaknesses is seen from Zucchini, who was unbaled to rescue his mother after he climbs in the attic room. When it comes to strengths, the filmmaker used different stylistic devices. Symbolism is one of the stylistic devices that was used in the film through the idea of animation, whereby cartoons represent different characters. Dialogue is the other stylistic device found in the film because characters such as Raymond, Simon, and Zucchini interacted with each other on different occasions. Zucchini, for instance, made a phone call to Raymond after his mother died. Also, Zucchini interacted with Simon when he arrived at the Orphanage.

Works Cited

Giardina Carolyn. My Life as a Zucchini': How a Swiss Stop-Motion Animated Film Became a Major Awards Contender. 2016. Retrieved from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/my-life-as-a-zucchini-how-a-swiss-stop-motion-animated-film-became-a-major-awards-contender-9

Karli Max. My Life as A Zucchini. 2016. Retrieved from https://yaa-efa.eu/en_EN/yaa-films/4719/my-life-as-a-zucchiniPressberg Matt. My Life as a Zucchini' Producer on Challenges of Animation: I didn’t want to make this Film. 2016. Retrieved from https://www.thewrap.com/my-life-as-a-zucchini-max-karli/