Le Mystère des pingouins

“There are 3,748 days until I grow up to be an adult.” It’s like 1980s Amblin in the style of Studio Ghibli. In other words, superb childhood summer adventure with a pinch of magical realism, surrealism and science fiction. But that doesn't play a primary role, it serves purely to let the kids learn something about themselves, first loves, friendships, as well as about the world. It stands on vivid characters, the atmosphere of a sultry summer and stunning audiovisuals. Most of all, however, it manages to evoke the unspoiled and still enthusiastic innocent child's view of the world so convincingly that even an adult can succumb to it – something few films can do, even if every other one tries it. Perhaps it's a tad longer than it should be, but the full rating was clear from the opening disarmingly disarming title sequence anyway. (01/01/2021)

This fantasy narrative is definitely charming in its own way and has some interesting ideas that would probably seem like bullshit from a purely scientific standpoint. However, with eyes half shut and Aoyama's knowledge, one can eventually come to terms with everything. After all, the kid is incredibly smart for his age and can solve any mystery, including why the dentist's breasts are so different from his mother's - actually, no, I had to figure that one out myself... On the other hand, I was also very arrogant as a child because of my intelligence. I was also supposed to be getting bigger and better every day because I was always discovering new things about the world, hence I can identify with the main male protagonist, which helps. Admittedly the other characters (mainly the other kids) were not that interesting, they were mostly quite formulaic and their romantic motivations for each other were also very clichéd. However, as I wrote, it was still an enjoyable movie because it was charming and that is quite important to me, to the point where 7/10 is well deserved in my book. (28/02/2019)