Boy and the World (2013)

Oscar nominated Brazilian animated film is not what I expected it to be. Here is the films summery from Wikipedia : "Cuca is a boy who lives in a distant world, in a small village in the interior of his mythical country. One day, he sees his father leaving in search of work, embarking on a train towards an unknown capital. The weeks that follow are of anguish and confusing memories. Until then, one night, a breath of wind breaks into the bedroom window and takes the boy to a distant and magical place." This story about a young boys search for his father is rendered as a small child might depict his first outing into the larger world, with an animation style that often looks of crayon, pencil and collage, but is also very interested in patterns. I thought I was going into a very simple, heartwarming, child like story but this film has a surprisingly darker edge, but presented in a muted and indirect way that will come up and surprise an adult viewer, but whose implications might not fully register in younger children. Boy and the World is in fact a work of South American leftist social/economic critique, and a powerful one. Maybe not quite a children's story by Che, but one by Chomsky. I must confess I was moved by the ending. ***1/2