Scénario:
Karey KirkpatrickPhotographie:
Tristan OliverActeurs·trices:
Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson, Phil Daniels, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, Benjamin Whitrow, Tony Haygarth (plus)Résumés(1)
Les Tweedy élèvent des poules en batterie. Soumis aux travaux forcés de ponte, les gallinacés cherchent à s’évader de leur poulailler-stalag. Ginger, cerveau des multiples tentatives d’évasion, est dans la ligne de mire du fermier qui, régulièrement, la rattrape et la jette au mitard. Tweedy tente de convaincre son Kapo d’épouse que les poules fomentent une évasion massive. La mégère n’y croit pas. La discipline intérieure, condition nécessaire à l’évitement des représailles fermières, est organisée par Poulard, un vieux coq, ancienne mascotte de la RAF. Rocky Rod, un jeune « coq-boy » américain atterrit accidentellement dans le poulailler. Il prétend pouvoir entraîner les gallinacés au vol. Mrs Tweedy décide de se livrer à la fabrication industrielle de tourtes au poulet. Elle passe commande d’une machine. Une fois montée, elle est « inaugurée » par Ginger, la réfractaire ! Rocky se porte à son secours et le duo détraque provisoirement le mécanisme infernal. De retour au poulailler, Ginger dévoile le plan d’extermination imaginé par les Tweedy. La résistance s’organise : les prisonnières construisent un engin volant et, in extremis, parviennent à faire décoller la machine avec la totalité du poulailler. Ayant gagné une île loin des hommes, les gallinacés y vivront heureux. Le poulailler d’un « camp de travail » devient un « camp d’extermination » : l’artiste a-t-il le droit de détourner par la comédie des réalités historiques et leur cortège de drames ? (La Pellicule Ensorcelée)
(plus)Critiques (4)
Great fun. The animation is extremely high standard, breathing life into the plasticine figures. The concentration camp atmosphere is depicted with amazing precision; I often found myself remembering war movies set during Hitler’s dictatorship.
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Now, this is the kind of fun I like. A straightforward story that relies heavily on parodying the tropes of prison films and quoting famous movies across several genres (I don’t think anyone has spoofed so well those two scenes from the second Indiana Jones), but that it’s also original and lively on its own, packed with punching jokes and brilliant narrative energy, only from the fact that the humanised heroes are actually silly hens. Also brilliant are the editing, the camera rides over and through the “death” camp, and the sophisticated visual presentation of the villains, focused on the light and accompanying their entrances with dramatic elements like lightning strikes. It’s not as entertaining, creative and solid as the best Pixar (especially Toy Story 3, also set in a prison), but it’s a beautiful plasticine homage to film adventure from creators who understand it and know how to fly it. 90%
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Watching Chicken Run, a striking parallel to concentration camps will certainly come to mind, but in this case it is a rather humorous and lightly handled one (which is not to denigrate the horrific reality of the concentration camps in any way). The chickens, led by the feisty Ginger and the wannabe aviator Rocky, decide to confront the demonic Mrs. Tweedy and her submissive husband - because who would want to end up in the pies - and their dream flight to freedom is not without its comic twists and turns. Thanks to the short running time, the film passes (or flies?) by like water and does not get boring. I enjoyed watching Mr. Tweedy helplessly witnessing the antics of his chickens, and of course I enjoyed the final "fling". A weaker four stars!
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Aardman is definitely a studio that has a lot to offer, mainly because there are not many studios doing stop motion animation anymore. Furthermore, their clay characters are simply fantastic. Exaggerated, entertaining, and recognizable. "Chicken Run" is not my favorite film, but you cannot deny the fun and creativity it brings. And the execution...
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