Look, I can file a lot of issues I have with this film under "les goûts et les couleurs" and/or "it‘s a kids film" but the horrible soundtrack choice is not one of them.
Directed by Marcel Barelli
Mary Anning, chasseuse de fossiles
England, 19th century. 12-year-old Mary is passionate about the fossils that she collects and sells with her father. When he accidentally dies near the fossil cliffs, Mary, her brother and her mother struggle to make the payments for the family house, meaning they will probably have to leave the seaside that Maëlys loves so much. But her father left a mysterious message: what was it that he saw on the cliffs before he died? With some help from her friends, Mary will fight to save her home and continue to do what she loves, searching for fossils, in the midst of a society where girls should not “behave like men”. Mary doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to go down in history…
Mary Anning is showing in 1 cinema in London - next screening Saturday 17 October at 13:00 at Cine Lumiere.
Next screenings: Saturday 17 October.
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Look, I can file a lot of issues I have with this film under "les goûts et les couleurs" and/or "it‘s a kids film" but the horrible soundtrack choice is not one of them.
vive la paléontologie et vive tray le chien
Never did I expect "Mary Anning" to be my first film of Leeds International Film Festival but in my volunteering fate had me working at and subsequentially watching a screening of this Swiss animation.Marry Anning, back in the 19th century, was a renownded paleonlogist in her discovery of various extinct species from fossils she found across the Jurassic Coast- specifically Lyme Regis, a place special to my heart.It imagines her childhood and how she rose to fame and success with the significant discovery of a particular aquatic dinosaur.She's angsty and rebellious against her close-minded religious community, led by a regressive vicar, as she searches on with her brother and the kid she's babysitting to find the fossil, and be able to stay in her community.It's a historical biopic very clearly fictionalised for a young audience, in which every trick in the book is used to keep their attention, making a film about searching for fossils on a beach as exciting for them as it can be. The dramatic route is always taken, no matter if it strains credibility. As an adult, there's plently of contrivance here,.but the young audience won't mind. If it actually keeps them engaged over the brisk 70 minutes, then i'm all for it.Although if this film wants to make any money over here, it needs a dub. As a Swiss production, this England set film is in French, showcasing a terrifying alternate reality in which William of Normandy won the Battle of Hastings in 1066. But I see why this isn't in English, as it makes it easier for French speaking Swiss kids to watch this. And perhaps this is revenge for Ridley Scott's France set "The Last Duel" and "Napoleon", in which the actors there don't even attempt French accents, let alone speak the language.On the programme, the animation put me off. It looked like the posters for the local panto (in hindsight it's nowhere near as bad). A frame seeemed cheap, but in execution it's flat but soft animation is quite soothing and nice to watch. There is some texture in the environments, but I'm sure this was made on the cheap.The score for this, like "Marie Antoinette" is anachronistic, utlising indie rock which does feel in your face and out of place, but it does heighten some scenes."Mary Anning" is a sweet and charming film well made for its target audience if they actually watch this but for me it was a pleasant if not spectaular surprise.
It follows a twelve-year-old girl in nineteenth-century England who discovers a passion for fossil hunting while helping support her struggling family.
Marcel Barelli directed the 2025 animated feature, which premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
