Dir. Michel Ocelot, France, 2016, 53 min. Color. Digital.
Voices of Marine Griset, Julien Béramis, Michel Elias, Olivier Claverie, Yves Barsacq
In French with English subtitles
Using his gorgeous trademark silhouetted style, Michel Ocelot conjures far-away lands of Indian palaces and Slavic castles in a film named after a figure from Russian folklore. Two children meet nightly with an old cinema projectionist, and together they let their imaginations run wild, becoming adventurers in their own fairy tales.
With delightful and delicate images, Ocelot plays with the traditional codes of fairy tales and re-invents them, subtly probing gender stereotypes.
Whimsical and beautifully crafted, Ivan Tsarevitch and the Changing Princess possesses both a childlike sense of wonder and striking sophistication.