Review: The Red Turtle, Watershed

Ahead of the preview screening of The Red Turtle at Watershed on Tuesday May 23, a minute of silence was instigated to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Manchester terror attack. While no words can fix such a tragedy, a sense of community – local or global – feels more important than ever.

The Red Turtle didn’t know the attack was going to happen, nor did Watershed. But the sold-out audience felt united through the weight of that silence. The Red Turtle is the first international co-production for Studio Ghibli with Wild Bunch, and the first feature-length film from dutch animator and director Michael Dudok de Wit. The simple and stylistic animation tells the story of an unnamed man, shipwrecked, who learns to live and embrace the desert island. The eponymous turtle gives the film its magical flavour, creating a gorgeous story about love, nature, family and loneliness.

While the premise of a shipwrecked protagonist suggests some fairly standard narrative expectations, The Red Turtle crafts itself as a work of quiet beauty. This isn’t a story about physical survival, or the angst against circumstances: the emphasis is on acceptance, patience and silence. Simple imagery and story gives way to a breadth of possible interpretation, on the understanding and appreciation of what we make, and what makes us.

When asked about the symbolism of the turtle and the film’s magical realism in the post-screening Q&A, Dudok de Wit responded with a wistful ambiguity. Is the man alone? Why is the turtle so insistent on him staying on the island? The film flirts with the idea of a fluid reality where consciousness and dreams belong to the realm of the subjective, and Dudok de Wit touched upon the idea of a universal subjectivity, allowing audiences to take what they wish from The Red Turtle.

There is no speech, but The Red Turtle isn’t a silent film; when the characters breathe, laugh, worry and fear, we feel it too. And, sure enough, by the time the film was over, the audience of Cinema 1 had laughed together in unison and tried to muffle tears in turn.

A truly captivated audience tonight for #TheRedTurtle – Michael Dudok de Wit with @kaargo @StudiocanalUK – breathtaking. Out Friday @wshed pic.twitter.com/qGBrVNN1bb

— Clare Leczycki (@ClareLeczycki) May 24, 2017

Whatever events unfurl, bringing people together and tearing them apart, the message of The Red Turtle – although ambiguous – is still a universal one. Over the evening, the film, open to interpretation in its enigmatic symbolism, spread a feeling of tranquillity and appreciation for a world which can unite, and will continue to do so.

Be it through a tantalising glittering pop concert or through a contemplative lyrical animated film, when individual words feel helpless, perhaps letting go of rationale and appreciating art can be enough for one evening.

The Red Turtle opens at Watershed on Friday May 26, and screens for two weeks.

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