Prerokba žab / La prophétie des grenouilles / Raining Cats and Frogs

Prerokba žab / La prophétie des grenouilles / Raining Cats and Frogs

Francija / France, 2003, 35 mm, barvni / colour, 90'. V francoskem jeziku z angleškimi in slovenskimi podnapisi. / In French language with English and Slovenian subtitles. Film je primeren za otroke. / Suitable for children.

Režija / Directed by: Jacques-Rémy Girerd
Scenarij / Script: Jacques-Rémy Girerd, Antoine Lanciaux, Iouri Tcherenkov
Likovna podoba / Art design: Iouri Tcherenkov, Jean-Loup Felicioli
Animacija / Animation: Zoia Trofimova, Michael Dudok de Witt, Alain Gagnol, Luis Rego, Jacques Higelin, Romain Bouteille
Kamera / Photography: Patrick Talleron
Montaža / Editing: Hervé Guichard
Glasba / Music: Serge Besset
Zvok / Sound: Frédéric Attal
Glasovi / Voices: Michel Piccoli (Ferdinand), Laurentine Milebo (Juliette), Coline Girerd (Lili), Kevin Hervé (Tom), Anouk Grimberg (Želva), Annie Girardot (slonica Denise), Michel Galabru (slon Roger), Jacques Higelin (Lev)
Producent / Produced by: Folimage, Studio Canal, France 2 Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma

Deček Tom živi na koncu sveta, na udobni kmetiji vrh hriba, v varnem zavetju ljubečih krušnih staršev – umirjenega in modrega nekdanjega mornarja Ferdinanda in temperamentne Afričanke Juliette. Njihova soseda sta lastnika živalskega vrta in Tom je velik prijatelj z njuno hčerko Lili. Ko se soseda odpravita na krajše potovanje, zaupata skrb za Lili in živali Tomovi družini. Otroka sta navdušena, starešina žab pa ju kmalu opozori, da se pripravlja velika nevarnost: 40 dni bo nenehno deževalo. Zapiha veter in črni oblaki se zbirajo na obzorju. Začne se neverjetna dogodivščina, polna težkih preizkušenj.


**

Jacques-Rémy Girerd (rojen leta 1952) je študiral na Šoli za likovno umetnost v Lyonu. V letih od 1978 do 1988 je delal kot profesor na gimnaziji in na šoli za likovno umetnost v Grenoblu. Leta 1984 v mestu Valence z majhno skupino navdušencev ustanovi studio Folimage, ki ga še vedno vodi. Animiranemu prvencu leta 1978, Štiri tisoč slik zarodkov (Quatre mille images fètales), sledi desetletje ustvarjanja kratkih stop-motion animacij, ki ga leta 1989 okrona s filmoma Amerlock in s césarjem nagrajenim Malim cirkusom vseh barv (Le petit cirque de toutes les couleurs). Girerd zrežira vrsto kratkometražnih animiranih filmov s plastelinom ter se uveljavi kot francoski specialist za to tehniko. Ko se leta 1988 rodi njegov prvi otrok, se posveti predvsem režiji risanih filmov za mlade in osnuje več poučnih otroških serij za televizijo: Življenjska sreča (Le bonheur de la vie), Nedolžnega izraza (Mine de rien), Moj ljubi mali planet (Ma petite planète chérie). Leta 1997 podpiše srednjemetražni film Otrok s kraguljčkom (L'enfant au grelot), ki pride v kinodvorane leta 1998 in požanje velik uspeh (330.000 gledalcev). Nato se loti režije prvega celovečerca Prerokba žab (La prophétie des grenouilles), kateremu leta 2008 sledi že drugi, Mia in Migo (Mia et le Migou).


Izjava režiserja
"Nikoli si nismo predstavljali, da bomo tehnično ali umetniško dosegli toliko, kot smo. Tako ambicioznega projekta se v Franciji nihče ni lotil vse od Kralja in Ptiča, ki ga je ustvaril Paul Grimault. Vse smo morali na novo izumiti. Bilo nam je v veliko veselje, čeprav moram priznati, da vse ni potekalo gladko [...]. Zame je bilo najtežje obdržati rdečo nit pripovedi, ohraniti njeno začetno svežino in se držati na varni razdalji, da je film lahko ohranil jasno vizijo."


At the end of the world, on a cosy farm perched at the top of a hill, Tom lives with his loving foster parents: the calm and wise ex-sailor Ferdinand and the temperamental African Juliette. Their neighbours own a small country zoo and Tom is best friends with their daughter Lili. When her parents go on a short trip, they entrust their daughter and the animals to Tom's family. The children are thrilled, but the frog elder soon warns them that they are in grave danger: the frogs predict 40 days of continuous rain. The wind starts blowing and black clouds start gathering. This is the start of an incredible adventure filled with hardship and misery.


Jacques-Rémy Girerd Jacques-Rémy Girerd (b. 1952) studied at the Lyon L'école des Beaux-Arts. He worked as a high school professor and teacher at the Grenoble Art School. In 1984 he and a small group of enthusiasts founded the Folimage studio in Valence, which he continues to run to this day. His first animated film Quatre mille images fètales in 1978 was followed by a decade of creating short stop-motion animations until the 1989 films Amerlock and the César-winning Best Animated Film Le petit cirque de toutes les couleurs. After the birth of his first child in 1988 he focused mainly on directing cartoons for children and started several educational children's series for television: Le bonheur de la vie, Mine de rien, Ma petite planète chérie. In 1997 he creates his featurette L'enfant au grelot, which became hugely popular in the cinemas (300.000 viewers). Afterwards he embarked on his first full-lenght feature La prophétie des grenouilles, which was followed by his second one, Mia et le Migou, in 2008.


Director's note
"We could never have imagined we would achieve so much either technically or artistically. Such an ambitious project had not been attempted in France since Paul Grimault's The King and the Bird. We had to reinvent everything. It was a great joy, but I must confess things sometimes got tough [...]. For me, the toughest thing was never to lose the vital thread of the plot, to retain its initial freshness and always stay at a safe distance from the film so as to remain clear-sighted."


Nagrade / Awards
Grand Prix Ottawa International Animation Film Festival, 2004; Special Mention Berlin International Film Festival, 2004; Adult's Jury Award Chicago International Children's film Festival 2004.