Me and My Moulton (2014) User Reviews

Does a great job of conveying the confusion of growing up.

[Hellmant · 7/10 · 4 February 2015]

'ME AND MY MOULTON': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A 14 minute Canadian-Norwegian animated short; which was just nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film (at the upcoming 87th Academy Awards). It was written and directed by Torill Kove and narrated by Andrea Braein Hovig. The short tells the story of a 7-year-old girl, growing up in Norway with two sisters, who also has somewhat odd and progressive architect parents. Her, and her sisters, dream of a bicycle of their very own; while also dealing with conflicting emotions for their parents (not understanding why they're so different from everyone else). The story is based on Kove's actual experiences at that age. I think the film does a great job of conveying the confusion of growing up; while having kind of a love-hate relationship with your parents. It's funny, beautifully odd and touching; all at the same time. One of the better 2015 Oscar nominated animated shorts.

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/D17O2xOoOCw

Charming.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 8 February 2015]

"Me and My Moulton" is a Norwegian/Canadian production by Torill Kove. Kove previously won in this category with "The Danish Poet" and was also nominated for "My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts". Because of this, she might just be the favorite to repeat in this category because may of the Oscar folks are probably familiar with her work. Like her previous films, the animation itself is only fair but it works fine with the story--but the story abounds with a wonderful sense of humor and is exceptionally sweet. It also captures the spirit of what it is like to see the world through the eyes of the young. The film consists of the recollections of a little girl about her life growing up in Norway and it abounds with charm. I only rated it an A- due to the quality of the animation.

Naive in a sweet way, somewhat profound, but still lacking

[peefyn · 6/10 · 23 February 2015]

With art similar to the ones in the books for children, and a story that speaks to people of all ages, this animated short manages to tell a simple, yet profound story of a little girl and her two sisters growing up in Norway. This seems like a personal story, and it might be hard to directly relate to much that happens in it. It is a movie without any villains or much conflict. It slightly touches upon some heavier themes, but does not dwell on them. Is this a good thing? I am not sure.

In a way, the movie is about the compromises made between different generations, and how different the world and mind of an adult is to the one of a child. And it is explained in a way that a child will understand in one way, an adult will understand in two (having once been children).

I only give this a 6 because despite the positive things I said about it, I do not find the story relatable enough for it to stay with me. It's a book I close and never come back to.

Primary colors and a primary narrator

[StevePulaski · 7/10 · 25 February 2015]

Me and My Moulton concerns a family made up of three young girls, one the oldest, one the middle, and one the youngest, dually noted by the youngest, and their parents, who are bound in a happy, brightly-colored neighborhood. They hunger to be like the children of their neighborhood, each one of them owning a bicycle and embracing the spring weather, while they do not own a bicycle. Their request to their parents is answered after their father tells them to wait a week or so for their new bicycle, which is being shipped all the way from Europe. In the meantime, we watch as the girls learn to get along with quibbling, to which they are given a monetary reward by their grandmother, who believes that a unified family is the strength of everything.

Me and My Moulton has some quirky hilarity to it, like the fact that the girls live with a family of modernist artists and sit on three-legged chairs for dinner and keep falling off, but the narration coming from the youngest prevents any kind of opportunity for the other sisters to get their say. As a result, their humanization is nonexistent, and we're left with a short that is a bit too uneven in its portrayal of gratefulness and a strong, central family bond. Nonetheless, as is a common theme with the Oscar nominated animated short films, there is a lovely animated style here that resembles that of a Flash cartoon in the best possible way.

Directed by: Torill Kove.

SHORT REVUE: Vibrant and fresh for all audiences

[OJT · 10/10 · 4 December 2014]

This 13 minutes animated short film is well deservedly nominated for an Academy Award. The film is fresh and vibrant and suitable for both children and grown ups. Told in a light and funny way, the story has a great punch. It even has a great message for those being parents in more than one way.

The drawn lines are crisp, the colors are vibrant and the storytelling is compelling. The freshness is best compared with the greatest animators, not to mention the best Chinese, however there's undoubtedly a clear Scccandinavian feel to the whole production.

A girl narratively tells about her upbringing as one of three daughters of a marriage between an architect and an interior architect, and the consequences this might lead to for those environmentally affected by this. The three sisters wishes for a bicycle, and eventually they are promised one. But it turns out differently than expected.

Director Torill Kove has done it again, after receiving Oscar for her last animated short movie about the Danish story teller H.C. Andersen. It wouldn't surprise many if this film turns up as a second winner for Kove. It's that good!

An okay watch at best

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 14 March 2016]

"Me and My Moulton" is a 14-minute animated short film from 2 years ago written and directed by Torill Kove. Even if she is Norwegian, the entire film is (just like the title) in English. The National Film Board of Canada has a very long successful history with the Oscars, so it should not come as a surprise that this one here got nominated too. Kove actually has not made a lot of films, but all her 3 short works got nominated and one even won. An impressive record for sure. As for me, I do not really like her style of animation. It isn't bad by any means and definitely looks a lot older than it actually is, which is not a criticism, but somehow it does not connect with me. As for this one, I could imagine that female audiences may enjoy this more than male audiences and the rating here on IMDb seems to confirm this theory. I personally thought this was mediocre at best, but at least I learned what a moulton is. I had no idea before. There was only one scene I found funny in here, namely when a doctor asks a girl if she has trouble at home, maybe gets beaten and then responds that her dad has a mustache. Not enough though, not even for this runtime. i do not recommend the watch and I preferred the actual Oscar winner last year.

Bittersweet and nostalgic look back at childhood

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 15 January 2015]

This short was written and directed by Torill Kove and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. There will be spoilers ahead:

This short, which was just today nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short, is a semi-autobiographical look back at the childhood of a girl, the middle daughter in her family and the year she was 7. Her sisters were 9 and 5. Their parents are unconventional, to say the least! They decorated their home as though it were an art museum, have three-legged chairs which the daughters fall out of so routinely that the adults barely notice, their mother makes their clothes out of designer fabric from Finland and their father is the only man in town with a mustache.

The short centers around the summer the sisters ask for their parents to get them a bicycle. They're willing to share a bike between them. The parents say they'll "see", which is usually polite parent-speak for "Not on your life".

The narrator wishes she had more "normal" parents, like her friend Beatrise, who lives downstairs. That her friend's family has problems of their own and that Beatrise just might be unhappy as well is made fairly clear as the short progresses. Life is difficult for most, probably all people.

Finally, the father tells his daughter that they are getting a bike, but that it's a "special" bike, which worries the girls (probably with some cause, as they have three-legged chair). The bike finally makes its appearance and their worst fears are confirmed. The bike is a Moulton and folds up, twists and can be disassembled, put in the trunk and reassembled. Its the perfect bike-from the point of view of the parents.

The daughters decide they'd rather have some happy moments with their parents rather than disappointment about the bike, so they start a group hug, get on the bike and enjoy what they have, while dad takes pictures.

This short can be streamed on the NFBC website for roughly the next three days and is likely available for purchase at the same website. It's worth watching. Most recommended.

Female filmmaker telling HER personal story

[JohnFilmfreak · 1/10 · 20 February 2015]

Why is it that whenever a woman gets a chance to make a movie, it always has to be a sappy retelling of her own personal life? While male directors make thrillers and comedies and musicals and sci-fis about all sorts of strange characters; women only want to make movies about themselves, and whether you're watching the Oscar nominated shorts or a bunch of shorts from film students, it's always the same. Short movies made by women, are all about the director's own life stories.

This wouldn't have been a problem, had all female filmmakers lived spectacularly interesting lives, but sadly this is not the case, and time and time again I've had to sit through terrible films like this, where a woman tells her "fascinating" story, about the bicycle she had as a child. Another example of this, is the director's previous film called "My grandmother ironed the king's shorts". Well whopdidoo, how interesting. Please tell me more about what pieces of clothing your grandmother ironed.

You see the same trend amongst bloggers: Men blog about politics and technology and cars and all kinds of stuff. Women blog about themselves. The only difference between female bloggers and female filmmakers, is that bloggers aren't funded by the government, like all female filmmakers in Norway are. As the country is officially a feminist state, the law says that 50% of all film funds has to go to female film makers, which means 50% of all Norwegian movies are all the same "female stories" from women who cannot produce anything else than their own boring life on celluloid, because they think they're such special snowflakes.

And the funny thing is, if you ever meet these female directors and ask them how they got funding for their scripts (I've actually asked several) they always reply the same thing "Getting funding in Norway is so easy!" The reason for this is simply because there are very few women who want to make movies, yet the state has decided that 50% of all funds has to go to women, resulting in the same minuscule portion of Norwegian filmmakers constantly getting money to produce a constant stream of movies about their own boring lives.

Yuk!