Ok, full disclosure up front. I watched this movie during my most exhausted moment of the festival. And after three previous movies in the wooden chairs at Buchanan Hall, my back just couldn’t take the fourth time. So, this may not be a fair shake.
The Red Turtle is director Michael Dudok de Witand feature film debut. It was a co-production between French-German company Wild bunch and the Japaneses Studio Ghibli. This is the first time Studio Ghibli disappointed me. A man is shipwrecked on a island. Each time he tries to escape a sea turtle destroys his raft. So in anger, he kills the sea turtle. He regrets this and tries to nurse it back to health. It turns into a woman and he cares for the woman. The man and he woman begin a life together on the island. It was symbolic of something, but I don’t know what. I found it incredibly boring and struggled to stay awake.