The Red Turtle (DOUBLEPLAY) [Blu-ray] [Region B]

This is a beautiful film. The art is beautiful, the score is beautiful and the story is beautiful. It is difficult to fully say why without giving spoilers, but I'll try. It is basically the life story of a man who has been shipwrecked on an island, and the role in his life played by a red turtle. This is fantasy, almost mythology, and there is quite a lot of web discussion about the meaning of all its events. However, you will draw your own meaning and it does not need to be dissected or analysed - just enjoy it for what it is. I watched it yesterday and I can't get it out of my head. It was the most enjoyable hour and twenty minutes I have spent for a long time, and it will stand re-watching again and again. The film is unusual in that there is no dialogue, but it doesn't need any. Initially you may wonder if the film can sustain your interest, but a little way in a major event happens and from there on in I was totally, utterly gripped. One of my favourite films of all time.

This is my favourite Ghibli film. The animation is astoundingly beautiful. The story is well paced, wistful and touching.

If you’re a ghibli fan this is a must. Brilliantly made and the storyline is just perfect. Another one for any collection.

Visually stunning. A slightly odd tale. Probably more appealing to adults.

This is quite a sad film

Amazing film, - the story is lovely, - simpler than most from Studio Ghibli films but being simple does not make it any weaker and I think a film that would appeal to people of all ages. - We as a family have been fans of Ghibli since discovering Spirited Away many years ago so the children have grown up with all of them, - now 17 and 18 and they both enjoyed this so much so that we have not seen the film since it disappeared into their rooms, - blue-ray in one, DVD in the other!

I've got mixed feelings about this film. On one hand it's well written, well animated, and clearly of a high quality ... but on the other hand it's not the kind of film that you'd expect from Ghibili. It's not really a feature film at all. If anything, this feels a lot like a French art-house film. The kind of thing that would be written specifically for a film festival.Without giving too much away, the film follows a ship wrecked sailor attempting to escape form a desert island, but who is repeatedly thwarted by an unseen creature that destroys his raft over and over again.So far, so good.But after the first 20 minutes it becomes very "artsie", some scenes are surreal with a dream like quality, and it becomes unclear which - if any - parts are supposed to be taken as a literal representation of the truth, and how much exist inside the mind of the main character.It's a little bit like the flying scenes from Tonari no Totoro, but far less cutesy. Because you aren't sure whether the film has become a fantasy film, or if what is happening is just imaginary.I didn't "not enjoy" this movie, but I tend to prefer Ghibli's more conventional movies Like Laputa and Nausicca. It felt like this film was too long, and each time you think that there might be an active element of plot, story or world building the film falls back into the "is it real or not" form, and then meanders off somewhere else. Almost as if it was originally written as a dozen short films that were connected together into one movie for commercial reasons.Overall, it's not bad, but don't go into this expecting a story\character based movie with a plot like in most other Ghibli movies. It's slow, it wonders all over the place, and it has an ending rather than a conclusion.This is more one for older viewers, kids will get bored very quickly.

How do you review a film that very much depends on the viewer?One of the best films of the year for me, the art is like moving Moebius drawings, beautiful.I have to disagree with people who say it feels like a Ghibli film, i personally didn’t think it did, it’s too minimalist, abstract and subtle... i’ve never seen a Ghibli film like this that relies so much on the viewer. It has more in common with the tonal style of Andrei Tarkovsky and is a timeless masterpiece as a result.