Ce magnifique gâteau!

At the end of the 19th century: a troubled king who finally gets the colony he wished for, a middle-aged Pygmy working in a luxury hotel who has to cope with the loss of his family, a failed businessman who deceived his family and has now run away to Africa, a lost porter, and a young army deserter. The Belgian-Dutch-French puppet stop-motion film “Ce magnifique gateau” tells the stories all of these protagonists, five different stories that only seldom intersect – if at all – but are closely linked because of an African colony. The 44-minute film places each person centre stage and illustrates the impact of colonialisation from very different perspectives. No one, not even the king, is really happy with or in the colony.
Inadvertently comical scenes alternate with profoundly sad scenes, and the film by the Belgian director duo Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels repeatedly blurs the boundaries between illusion and reality, between dreams, desires and reality. This is especially intensified by the lifelike detailed scenery. Like the puppets themselves, the features of the production design are by and large made of felted wool, cotton and other textiles. In combination with the sparing use yet perfectly succinct inclusion of sound and music, this stop-motion film becomes a very special visual and audio experience. “Ce magnifique gateau” celebrated its world premiere in spring of this year in Cannes; it won the André-Martin Award for a French Short Film in Annecy. Still fresh in our minds is the duo’s previous film “Oh Willy…”, which garnered more international selections and awards than any other film in 2012 and 2013. (ch)